Asda and Sainsbury’s bosses Roger Burnley and Mike Coupe grilled by MPs over merger June 20, 2018 The chair of a select committee has told Asda's boss to "get real" and stop talking "baloney" in a grilling over the supermarket's merger between Asda and Sainsbury's this morning. Asda's Roger Burnley and Sainsbury's boss Mike Coupe appeared in front of the the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) committee, which has launched an [...]
Competition watchdog flags concerns over media intelligence merger between Nielsen and Ebiquity June 13, 2018 The proposed merger of marketing consultancies Ebiquity and Nielsen has sparked concerns from the competition watchdog. Nielsen and Ebiquity monitor the advertising habits of companies and are the only suppliers of this intelligence across the UK media. Ebiquity announced in February that it wanted to sell its advertising division to Nielsen. The Competition and Markets [...]
Takeda shareholder group aims to block $62bn Shire deal June 11, 2018 A group of Takeda shareholders is working to block the $62bn (£46.4bn) acquisition of Shire, news agency Reuters reported today. Japanese drug company Takeda is holding a shareholder meeting later this year to approve an issue of new stock to help fund the deal for London-listed Shire. A 130 member group of ex-Takeda employees holds [...]
In-demand shared office firm IWG rejects offer from US investor Prime Opportunities May 29, 2018 Shared office space firm IWG has rejected an offer from Los Angeles-based property investor Prime Opportunities, just two weeks after it confirmed it had received offers from a trio of other firms. Prime Opportunities said that it had led a consortium which made a cash offer for the entire business, but that IWG had dismissed [...]
Legal ranking firm Chambers and Partners scooped up by Virgin Experience Days owner Inflexion March 20, 2018 Legal rankings business Chambers and Partners came top of Inflexion's books today, as the private equity firm announced it had bought the business for an undisclosed price. Founded in 1990, Chambers is used by corporates to help them choose legal advisers and by law firms to help select individual lawyers to hire. City PM understands [...]
Law firms Berwin Leighton Paisner and Bryan Cave get the green light to merge creating a $900m revenue business February 26, 2018 City law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner is to merge with US peer Bryan Cave, creating a firm with combined revenues of more than $900m (£645m). The pair revealed they were in talks in October last year, saying that a deal would allow them to join the "handful" of firms operating with a one-firm structure globally. [...]
Chinese investment into UK doubles despite lower global spend January 17, 2018 Chinese investment into the UK doubled during 2017 to a record high as investors jumped at the chance to buy coveted British assets at cheaper prices, according to a study to be published today. Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UK from China reached $20.8bn (£15bn) during the year, up from $9.2bn in 2016, according [...]
UK mergers and acquisitions hit a new record last year as companies defend themselves from foreign takeovers January 9, 2018 The number of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in the UK hit a record high last year, despite growing dissatisfaction from the business community with the pace and vagueness of the Brexit negotiations. The number of deals where a UK company was the target escalated to 1,543 in 2017 from 1,493 the year before, according [...]
Aston Martin owner Investindustrial grabs Chelsea-based luxury furniture retailer Oka January 7, 2018 Investindustrial, the Italian private equity owner of Aston Martin, has bought a UK luxury furniture retailer co-founded by Samantha Cameron’s mum. Oka, based in Chelsea, is said to have attracted a cheque for more than £40m from Investindustrial, the Sunday Times first reported. It sells furniture ranging from £32 cushion covers to £3,785 sofas, and [...]
Morgan Stanley swoops to steal the crown from Goldman Sachs advising on announced M&A deals worth $136bn last year January 3, 2018 Morgan Stanley won the UK title for advising on the biggest share of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) announced last year, grabbing the crown fromGoldman Sachs. Morgan Stanley worked on deals involving a UK party worth a massive $136bn (£101bn), climbing from seventh place in 2016 and stealing an impressive 36 per cent market share, according [...]
