Unilever share price drops after deal talks with Kraft Heinz fall apart February 20, 2017 Shares in Unilever finished more than seven per cent lower today after talks around a potential deal with Kraft Heinz were called off over the weekend. The proposed takeover was revealed on Friday, sending FTSE 100-listed Unilever's share price up 15 per cent, and Kraft's up by 4.3 per cent in pre-market trading in New York. [...]
Why is M&A rising? The bigger the company, the more likely it is to survive February 20, 2017 Investor sentiment is still skyrocketing as Donald Trump continues his victory lap and investors revel in the fanfare. The markets are behaving as though the White House’s as-yet-undetailed economic policies will cure all ills, from the simmering uncertainty around French, Dutch and German elections to the biggest pain for chief executives – technology disruption. The [...]
Politicians must tread carefully on M&A intervention February 20, 2017 It is common in business and politics today to talk about "signals". Brexit is either a signal of our desire to cut ourselves off from the world, or a sign that we’re set to become a kind of expansionist high-seas merchant. From immigration to Donald Trump, foreign policy to international aid, perceptions are increasingly being [...]
Downing Street was up for a fight over the now scuppered $140bn Kraft Heinz-Unilever mega deal February 20, 2017 Sometimes, it’s just not meant to be. Many of us spent the weekend chewing over the early manoeuvres of what would have been one of the largest corporate deals ever, but by Sunday evening Kraft Heinz declared it was “amicably” walking away from its audacious bid to scoop up Unilever. In just 48 hours, a [...]
Kraft Heinz has “amicably agreed” to withdraw its $140bn mega-bid for Unilever February 20, 2017 US food giant Kraft Heinz shocked the financial world last night, scrapping its $140bn (£113bn) takeover bid for Unilever just two days after news of the offer was leaked. Kraft said it had "amicably agreed" to abandon the proposed merger, which would have been the second largest in corporate history, and the largest ever acquisition of [...]
Kraft Heinz bid for Unilever adds flavour to London’s end-of-week trading February 17, 2017 Food firm Unilever propped up the FTSE 100 after US competitor Kraft Heinz made a huge $143bn (£115bn) merger offer for the London-listed firm to inject some energy to trading at the end of the week. Unilever’s share price popped by 13.43 per cent as it briefly reached an all-time record high on the news, [...]
Marmite and Ketchup: the perfect combination? Kraft Heinz has made a £115bn merger offer for Unilever February 17, 2017 Processed cheese giant Kraft Heinz has made a $143bn (£115bn) merger offer for FTSE 100-listed UK food producer Unilever, it announced today. In a statement Kraft said Unilever had declined an initial offer to combine the two groups, but added they were still in talks. Under the offer, Unilever shareholders would receive $50 per share, in a [...]
These are the brands a combined Kraft Heinz and Unilever would own February 17, 2017 Kraft Heinz revealed today that it has approached rival consumer goods giant Unilever about a potential merger. While its initial approach was rebuffed, Kraft Heinz said discussions with Unilever are ongoing. If the deal goes ahead, the combined group would own over 600 brands. These are the household names involved in the potential mega-merger: Marmite [...]
Small businesses at sea over Brexit as the weak pound causes headaches February 13, 2017 Theresa May has not triggered Article 50 yet, but the uncertainty stirred up by Brexit, and the weak pound, are already weighing on small and medium-sized businesses. According to accountancy firm Moore Stephens, the fall in sterling in the wake of the Brexit vote on 23 June has been a key problem for businesses, with [...]
Opinion: Is Bournville Village the key the solving the housing crisis? February 4, 2017 There’s nothing new about employers building houses for their employees. George Cadbury wanted to build a place full of green spaces, where industrial workers could thrive, away from city pollution. By 1895, 143 cottages had been built and Bournville Village was born. Another business industrialist with similar philanthropic ideals was the ‘soap king’ Lord Lever [...]