Morrisons shareholders give seal of approval to $10bn CD&R takeover deal October 19, 2021 Shareholders in Morrisons have voted to approve a £7bn ($9.7bn) takeover bid from US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, in the official end to a long and heated takeover battle. British supermarket Morrisons said the required majority of three quarters of its shareholders backed the deal at a hybrid in-person and virtual investor [...]
PwC offloads mobility tax consultancy arm to PE group CD&R for $2.2bn October 19, 2021 CD&R has reached a $2.2bn takeover deal with PwC to snap up its global mobility tax and immigration services business, in the consultancy giant’s biggest sell-off in almost two decades. Globally, the unit currently advises more than 3000 organisations with tax and immigration compliance issues when they move staff overseas – a market that more [...]
M&A cash: Uncertainty and reduced leverage capacity make it harder to finance takeovers October 12, 2021 One of China’s biggest property developers, Evergrande, has come under mounting pressure in recent weeks to repay investors and bond holders on the back of three missed payments on over $300bn of liabilities. This potential default has triggered fears across global markets that investors will not get their money back. It has also had an effect on [...]
KKR founders Henry Kravis and George Roberts step down from the throne October 11, 2021 Private equity grandees Henry Kravis and George Roberts, who founded KKR in 1976, are stepping down as co-chief executives of their eponymous buyout firm. Succeeding them, Joe Bae and Scott Nuttall, who have both served as co-presidents for four years, have taken the helm. Both Kravis and Roberts will remain actively involved in the private [...]
‘PE to PE’ deals soar as firms rush to offload $2.3 trillion post-pandemic dry powder October 4, 2021 Private equity to private equity deals, whereby groups sell UK companies to each other, have jumped by 44 per cent in the past year, as firms rush to please investors and deploy capital accumulated during the coronavirus crisis. The number of so-called “PE to PE” deals increased by 44 per cent to 85 in the [...]
Bridgepoint enlists Rothschild for £1.3bn Miller Homes sale amid housing boom October 2, 2021 Bridgepoint is seeking to capitalise on soaring valuations as the housing market booms, with the sale or float of Miller Homes, one of the UK’s biggest housebuilders. The private equity firm has appointed investment bank Rothschild to advise on its potential exit from Miller Homes, four years after it bought the company from GSO Capital [...]
Crunch time: Morrisons takeover battle to culminate in one-day auction this weekend September 29, 2021 A months-long multibillion pound takeover battle for Morrisons will culminate in a one-day auction on Saturday, the UK’s takeover watchdog has confirmed. The stock market’s Takeover Panel said it would run a bidding process of up to five rounds this weekend because neither of the private equity bidders Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and the Fortress [...]
‘Alpha-Flation’: A Private Market Syndrome September 28, 2021 | City Talk In private equity (PE), there are more ways to calculate the alpha of a portfolio or fund than any other asset class. And in no sector other than private markets does investing in the average fund seem to go so poorly. Should it be this way? Is the average private market fund a bad fund [...]
MPs speak out as Morrisons bidder plans to run grocer from Cayman Islands September 26, 2021 The private equity eyeing supermarket Morrisons has lined up an entity in the tax haven Grand Cayman to run the supermarket giant, bid documents have revealed. Cross-party MPs have urged Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) to assure it will pay UK corporate tax rates on Morrisons’ turnover, the Sunday Times reported. CD&R revealed full details [...]
Hybrid future is ‘part-time work for full-time wages’, says City grandee September 24, 2021 Veteran city broker Andrew Monk has spoken out against government plans to legislate the right to request flexible working from day one, arguing that it should be up to business leaders and that many CEOs in the city believe it doesn’t work for financial firms. “Frankly, I know how to run my business better than [...]
