Abrdn closes in on finalising £1.5bn Interactive Investor takeover December 2, 2021 Abrdn could today announce the £1.5bn takeover of DIY investment platform Interactive Investor (II). The deal, after weeks of exclusive negotiations, was in its final stages yesterday, reported Sky News’ Mark Kleinman, who also revealed last month that the two firms had begun talks. The acquisition of II – which, with 400,000 personal investing clients, [...]
LadBible heads for £360m London float December 1, 2021 The millenial and Gen Z digital publisher Ladbible is targeting a valuation of £360m in one of the London stock market’s biggest media industry flotations, according to reports this morning. It is understood that co-founder Solly Solomou is to sell a chunk of his stake, which will be valued at around £200m if an initial [...]
Why brand Manchester United keeps them hooked November 30, 2021 Around this time of year, Christmas comes early for many football fans with the release of the immersive fantasy world that is Football Manager. Will this be the year I take Newport County from League Two to Champions League glory? Let’s spend 250 hours over the next 12 months finding out. In this year’s game [...]
Punch Pubs owners mull sale after suitors come calling November 29, 2021 The owners of Punch Pubs and Co, one of the UK’s largest pub operators, are mulling a sale of the firm after receiving a flurry of approaches despite ongoing Covid-19 headwinds. Fortress Investment Group, the US investor owned by Japan’s SoftBank, is in talks to buy Punch for a price reportedly in the region of [...]
Hotel Review: Windjammer Landing, St Lucia November 29, 2021 If you’re ready to escape the bleak British winter for some Caribbean sun, we have just the thing… The stay We’re ditching the grey skies if London for the tropical climes of St Lucia’s yacht-speckled bays. Travelling in the Covid-19 era ain’t for those afraid of form-filling, pre-testing, masking-wearing or very regular hand-gel application but [...]
Deliveroo to name Goldman as broker despite disastrous IPO debut November 28, 2021 Goldman Sachs and Barclays are close to being picked as Deliveroo’s joint brokers, Sky News reported today. A source close to Deliveroo said the London-listed food delivery app will finalise the appointments of the two US investment bank behemoths as joint corporate brokers – a key role for investment banks as they seek to advise [...]
Third Omicron case detected in the UK as countries tighten travel rules November 28, 2021 A third case of the Omicron coronavirus variant has been confirmed in the UK. The Health Security Agency confirmed that a new case had been detected, in addition to cases discovered in Brentwood, Essex and Nottingham. The latest case has been linked to travel to southern Africa, where the variant was identified, but the individual [...]
Javid: England ‘nowhere near’ implementing more Covid restrictions November 28, 2021 The government is “nowhere near” bringing in fresh Covid restrictions like mandatory vaccine passports and working from home orders, according to Sajid Javid. The health secretary said the emergence of the new Omicron variant does not mean Plan B restrictions are imminent and that “people should continue with their plans as normal at Christmas”. It [...]
Staycation bidding war: Blackstone-owned Bourne Leisure to sell off Butlin’s November 28, 2021 British domestic holiday giant Butlin’s is reportedly set to be sold off next year, which could rally a bidding war amid the country’s staycation boom. Blackstone-owned Bourne Leisure, Butlin’s parent company, has already chosen bankers to undertake the auction sometime in 2022, Sky News’ Mark Kleinman reported. The value of the holiday chain is not [...]
‘We are sick of double-speak’: Furious French govt lashes out at UK as Channel migrant crisis turns into full-scale row November 27, 2021 A French government spokesman has accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of “double-speak” as the fallout of a dinghy that sank on Wednesday, with the loss of 27 lives, increasingly turns into a full-scale diplomatic row. France reacted with fury after Boris Johnson publicly called on Paris to take back people who survive the Channel crossing [...]