Linklaters-Led EQT Ups Bid For Price Comparator To $4.2B

By Dawood Fakhir

EQT said Friday that its consortium has increased its bid to take Kakaku.com private to approximately 682 billion Japanese yen ($4 billion) after being outbid by another group of investors.

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Slovenian Lender Ups Offer For Austrian Bank To €722M

By Irene Madongo

Slovenian lender NLB Group on Friday confirmed that it has raised its offer for Austrian banking group Addiko to €721.5 million ($825 million), as the bidding war with rival Raiffeisen Bank International heats up.

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Reed Smith-Led UK Marketer Rejects Rival's £43M Offer Again

By Dawood Fakhir

U.K. marketing group System1 reiterated on Friday its unequivocal rejection of an unsolicited £43.1 million ($58 million) takeover approach from rival Brave Bison, saying the offer significantly undervalues the business and does not represent fair value for shareholders.

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Howden Expands In Ireland With Financial Adviser Buy

By Joel Poultney

Insurance broker Howden has acquired Limerick-based financial advisory business Thomond Asset Management, marking the latest in a string of recent acquisitions for the company in Ireland.

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Brief

UK Biotech Completes Cancer-Focused Co. Buy In £17M Deal

By Irene Madongo

Thalia Therapeutics PLC said Friday it has completed its acquisition of cancer treatment specialist Sanmirna, worth up to £16.7 million ($22.5 million).

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Johnson Matthey To Give Shareholders £1B From £1.3B Sale

By Dawood Fakhir

Johnson Matthey said Friday that it has completed the £1.33 billion ($1.8 billion) sale of its catalyst technologies arm to U.S. tech company Honeywell, and plans to return £1 billion from the proceeds to its shareholders.

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Brief

Norwegian Investor Unveils $173M Share Buyback Program

By Irene Madongo

Norwegian industrial investor Aker ASA said Friday that it will kick off a share buyback program worth an estimated 1.67 billion Norwegian kroner ($173 million) to settle a merger between its subsidiaries.

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PE Biz Pecten Settles €118M Suit With Asset Manager Azimut

By Tom Fish

Investment advisory firm Pecten Capital LLP has settled its claim against Italian asset manager Azimut over alleged breaches of agreements tied to a multimillion-euro investment in an industrial machinery manufacturer.

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Ex-Execs Settle £8M Share Sale Loss Claim With Telecom Biz

By Eddie Beaver

Two former directors of a telecom technology company have settled their £8 million ($10.8 million) claim against their successors over allegedly being tricked into selling their shares at a fraction of their true value.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen Snapchat and Dolby press on with a fresh infringement claim in their ongoing patent battle, The Telegraph face an intellectual property claim by a photo archive, a group of international human rights barristers and chambers sued, and oil business Equinor embroiled in a contract dispute with BP after recently acquiring full ownership in their offshore project. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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UK Bill Would Transform Commercial Payments Terms

A bill recently introduced to Parliament, if enacted, would replace significant areas of contractual freedom concerning payment terms with mandatory rules that would fundamentally alter the balance of power between smaller suppliers and larger counterparties, says Sam Cooper at Crowell & Moring.

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