CMA teams up with Australian and German authorities to tackle problematic mergers April 20, 2021 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has teamed up with its Australian and German counterparts to better enforce mergers, with healthy competition crucial to post-pandemic economic growth. The CMA, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Germany’s Bundeskartellamt have signed up to a statement which said that “without strong merger control regimes, there is a [...]
Sanne buys Texas fund solutions company for $32m April 7, 2021 Sanne has bought Dallas-based fund solutions company STRAIT for $32m. The asset manager said STRAIT would increase its scale, capabilities and client coverage in North America. The move adds more than 50 employees to Sanne, more than 60 new client groups and in excess of $20bn of assets under administration to Sanne’s platform, as well [...]
Digital 9 Infrastructure buys business operating 14,300 of trans-Atlantic sub-sea fibre April 1, 2021 Digital 9 Infrastructure, an investment trust that seeks out digital infrastructure assets that deliver reliable internet, has completed the acquisition of Aqua Comms for £160m, its first acquisition. Aqua Comms is a platform that owns and operates some 14,300km of trans-Atlantic sub-sea fibre systems. Digital 9 said Aqua Comms’ infrastructure represented the very “backbone” of [...]
Aviva to sell Polish arm to Allianz for €2.5bn March 26, 2021 Aviva has agreed to sell its Polish arm to Allianz for a cash consideration of €2.5bn, which it said valued the acquired business at €2.7bn. The pension provider and insurer said it will now focus on its business in the UK, Ireland and Canada. This is Aviva’s eighth transaction in as many months. The giant [...]
Exclusive: Law firm mergers drop to nine-year low as Covid-19 turns consolidators cautious March 15, 2021 Law firm mergers have fallen to a nine-year low, as the economic downturn brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic has left consolidator firms wary of making acquisitions. Just 107 law firm mergers were completed in 2020, down 25 per cent on the 143 mergers that occurred in 2019 and less than half the 278 mergers [...]
Begbies Traynor set for £25m acquisition in biggest deal yet March 12, 2021 Begbies Traynor has agreed to buy insolvency practice David Rubin & Partners, in a deal worth up to £25m. The deal represents Begbies Traynor’s biggest acquisition to date, and continues the firm’s recent acquisitive spree, which has seen it buy two firms already this year. Begbies Traynor will pay an initial £12m for David Rubin [...]
Cazoo founder mulls $8bn merger with US-listed Spac March 6, 2021 Cazoo founder Alex Chesterman is weighing up a merger with special purpose acquisition company (Spac) that could value it at as much as $8bn. Chesterman, who set up online car retailer Cazoo in 2018, has been holding discussions with US-listed Spac Ajax I, Sky News first reported. Ajax I was launched by Daniel Och, co-founder [...]
Peugeot and Fiat owner Stellantis nets profit boost after mega-merger March 3, 2021 The newly formed Stellantis predicts better than expected financial results after profits remain high in the pandemic
£25.7bn in deals: Strongest M&A start of the year in two decades February 15, 2021 Deals involving a UK investment or acquisition target hit £25.7bn during the first six weeks of this year, more than three times the value recorded during the same period in 2020. It also marks the highest opening six-week period for deal announcements of any year since 2000, according to new data from London Stock Exchange-owned [...]
U.S law firm Armstrong Teasdale buys Kerman & Co in London expansion February 10, 2021 U.S law firm Armstrong Teasdale has bought City law firm Kerman & Co, adding 50 lawyers to the American firm. Kerman & Co, which is based in The Strand, specialises in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, commercial and intellectual property, litigation, employment and immigration, sports and entertainment and real estate. “We have [...]
