Boutique London advisory firm lands £8m funding amid M&A frenzy Merger/Acquisition A boutique M&A advisory firm has landed £8m in fresh funding as it seeks to capitalise on a wave of takeover activity, City AM can reveal. London-based Lava Advisory Partners, which was founded in 2020, secured the debt finance from specialist SME lender Beechbrook Capital. The B Corp-certified firm said it would use the cash [...]
Manchester billionaire tables £583m offer for property developer Harworth Property Billionaire-owned Peel Group has tabled a £583m offer for Harworth as the property developer is poised to become the latest firm to exit the London Stock Exchange. The offer of 172.5p per share represents a premium of 20.1 per cent compared to Harworth’s closing share price yesterday and a 36.9 per cent premium above the [...]
Starling plans to ‘come out swinging’ in diversification bid Fintech Bernadette Smith has a spring in her step as she sits down in Starling’s headquarters to discuss her new role. The fintech’s new banking boss is buzzing with energy that she wants to pass onto customers and investors. “I want everyone to be talking about us,” she says, envisaging how she will measure success in [...]
Easyjet extends window for another Castlelake bid August 3, 2026 Easyjet has extended the window for another takeover bid from asset manager Castlelake after its offer was usurped by investment giant Apollo last month. The budget airline said on Monday that it was still set to recommend the Apollo deal to shareholders, which values its stock at £7.15 per share, but would extend Castlelake’s deadline [...]
Sky and ITV mount defence of £1.6bn merger as regulators probe deal July 24, 2026 Sky and ITV will argue their proposed £1.6bn merger controls only around a fifth of Britain’s advertising market as they seek to convince competition regulators to approve one of the biggest media deals in decades, City AM understands. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Wednesday invited comments on Sky’s planned acquisition of ITV’s Media [...]
Clifford Chance partners pocket £2.3m as private markets drive growth July 22, 2026 Magic circle firm Clifford Chance’s revenue surpassed £2.6bn for the first time, largely driven by the surge in private market work. The firm’s revenue was up 9 per cent from £2.4bn last year, as the Canary Wharf-headquartered firm said that while all service lines performed well, the hike was driven largely by “momentum in the private markets” [...]
Finsbury lines up Games Workshop splurge using merger windfall July 15, 2026 Nick Train’s Finsbury Income and Growth fund is preparing to launch a spending spree on Games Workshop shares after pocketing a windfall from a string of acquisitions in its portfolio. The FTSE 250 investment trust – which can trace its roots back over a century – unveiled plans to use both debt and returns from [...]
Paul Hastings opens global sports practice as another law firm enters sector July 13, 2026 Law firm Paul Hastings have launched a new global sports practice as the Bishopsgate-based US giant expands its offering. Former Baltimore Ravens general counsel Brandon Etheridge and former Slaughter figure Mark Zerdin, who advised TWG Motorsports on their Cadillac F1 team entry, will form the core of the practice, which will form part of deals-based [...]
ITV says ‘no guarantees’ on jobs after £1.6bn Sky deal July 6, 2026 ITV and Sky executives have said they can make no guarantees on job cuts after the two companies announced a £1.6bn merger on Monday. Employees of ITV have been warned the tie-up between Britain’s two biggest commercial broadcasters could lead to redundancies, and there are “no guarantees” over their jobs. Speaking after the acquisition was [...]
Government intervenes on foreign takeover bids for UK defence firms July 2, 2026 Ministers have intervened in a flurry of foreign takeover attempts on British defence firms in the past year over concerns the bids posed a threat to national security, City AM can reveal. The government unit that scrutinises takeovers “called in” 24 proposed bids from foreign buyers between the first quarter of 2025 and the end [...]