Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Transactions UK
-
July 30, 2024
Eversheds-Led Greggs Lands £100M Pension Deal With Aviva
Aviva PLC has insured the retirement savings plans of more than 600 members of British bakery and café chain Greggs PLC in a buy-in transaction of £100 million ($128.4 million), with the deal guided by Eversheds Sutherland.
-
July 30, 2024
Regulator Highlights Quality Gaps Among Top Auditors
The Financial Reporting Council said Tuesday that there is a widening gap between BDO LLP and Forvis Mazars LLP and the better performance of the Big Four accounting firms for high-quality audits of major U.K. companies.
-
July 30, 2024
StanChart Launches Record $1.5B Share Buyback Program
Standard Chartered PLC unveiled plans on Tuesday to reward investors with its biggest-ever share buyback program worth $1.5 billion as it reported a 20% surge in profits to nearly $4 billion.
-
July 30, 2024
BHP, Lundin Jointly Buy Copper Miner Filo For $3B
Australian mining group BHP and Canadian counterpart Lundin said Tuesday that they have agreed to jointly acquire copper miner Filo Corp. for approximately CA$4.1 billion ($3 billion) in a deal guided by at least five law firms.
-
July 30, 2024
Forestry Investor Completes £167M Sale To Averon SPAC
Foresight Sustainable Forestry Co. PLC said on Tuesday that the investment company has finalized a £167 million ($214.8 million) takeover by Averon Park Ltd.
-
July 30, 2024
Hipgnosis Shares Canceled Amid $1.6B Blackstone Deal OK
Music rights heavyweight Hipgnosis said Tuesday that its shares have been canceled from trading in London after a court in Guernsey waved through the $1.6 billion takeover of the entire company by private equity giant Blackstone.
-
July 30, 2024
UK Crypto Biz To Raise £6.5M Via Private Share Placing
Argo Blockchain PLC said on Tuesday that it has agreed to sell shares worth approximately £6.5 million ($8.4 million) to an institutional investor, which the cryptocurrency miner will use to finance general working capital and pay back debt.
-
July 29, 2024
Legal Tech Biz Litera Acquires Data Management Co. FileTrail
Legal technology giant Litera announced on Monday the acquisition of FileTrail, which offers information governance and records management services to law firms and companies.
-
July 29, 2024
Morgan Lewis Grows German Presence With 3 New Partners
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP announced Monday that it has hired three new partners to further strengthen its German offerings.
-
July 29, 2024
Wolters Kluwer Acquires Accountancy Portfolio For €325M
Dutch information services company Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting said Monday that it has agreed to acquire the accountancy portfolio of Belgian fintech company Isabel Group, which includes five accounting software, for €325 million ($352 million) in cash.
-
July 29, 2024
Zurich Invests $60M In Cyber Insurance Provider For SMEs
Swiss insurance giant Zurich has invested $60 million in Cowbell, a provider of cyberinsurance for small businesses, the digital risk company said, amid growing industry concerns over cyberthreats.
-
July 29, 2024
Tesco Continues Buyback Scheme With £400M Tranche
Tesco PLC said Monday it will roll out a £400 million ($514 million) share repurchase program, the second part of the supermarket giant's buyback of up to £1 billion that is aimed at cutting down its outstanding share capital.
-
July 29, 2024
Workspace To Sell Residential Development For £13M
Flexible workspace provider Workspace Group PLC said Monday that it has agreed to sell a residential redevelopment site in the southeastern English town of Woking for £13 million ($16.7 million).
-
July 29, 2024
BMS To Acquire Rival UK Insurance Broker From PE Biz
Independent insurance and reinsurance broker BMS Group said Monday that it is set to purchase David Roberts & Partners Insurance Brokers Ltd. from Inflexion Private Equity Partners LLP.
-
July 29, 2024
LED Biz Dialight To Sell Traffic Unit To US Rival For $6M
LED lighting specialist Dialight said Monday that it has agreed to sell its traffic signal subsidiary to U.S. rival Leotek for $5.8 million to reduce debt and streamline its business.
-
July 29, 2024
Ithaca's Eni Sites Deal Won't Need Shareholders' Approval
The £745 million ($955 million) acquisition by Ithaca Energy PLC of Eni assets no longer requires backing by shareholders as the U.K. overhaul of the Listing Rules came into force on Monday.
-
July 26, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Wachtell, Polsinelli, Kirkland
In this week's Taxation With Representation, T-Mobile partners with KKR to acquire Metronet, Exclusive Networks gets a takeover offer, KKR buys Instructure Holdings Inc., and Bally's Corp. merges with The Queen Casino & Entertainment Inc.
-
July 26, 2024
Linklaters Lights National Grid's £700M Sale Of Gas Stake
National Grid PLC on Friday confirmed it will sell its remaining 20% holding in the British gas network for approximately £700 million ($901 million) to a consortium of infrastructure investors, a deal advised by Linklaters LLP and White & Case LLP.
-
July 26, 2024
Ellex-Led ERGO To Buy €80M Baltic Biz Of European Insurer
European insurance heavyweight ERGO Group has agreed to acquire Norwegian nonlife insurer Gjensidige Forsikring ASA's Lithuania-based subsidiary ADB Gjensidige for €80 million ($87 million).
-
July 26, 2024
Linklaters-Led Masdar To Buy Spanish Solar Stake For €817M
Spanish multinational electric utility company Endesa said Friday that it has agreed to sell nearly half of its solar installations in Spain to Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co. for €817 million ($887 million), in a deal guided by Linklaters LLP and Ashurst LLP.
-
August 02, 2024
Fieldfisher Adds Banking Litigation Pro From Hausfeld
Fieldfisher LLP has hired "the perfect" banking and finance litigation expert as a partner in its London office, as the firm moves to strengthen its financial practice both in the U.K. and abroad.
-
July 26, 2024
Valderrama Golf Course Owner Heir Blocked From Sale Profits
The heir to the former owner of the Valderrama golf course in Spain lost his fight Friday for a slice of a €39.1 million ($42.5 million) sale as an appellate court rejected his interpretation of a profit-sharing agreement.
-
July 26, 2024
FCA To Overhaul Prospectus Rules To Boost Capital Markets
The Financial Conduct Authority set out plans to shake up the U.K.'s prospectus regime Friday, including new rules for public offers and risk disclosures, to help boost the country's ailing capital markets.
-
July 26, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen U.K. band The 1975 face action by Future Sound Asia after its performance in Malaysia resulted in a festival's cancelation, Spectrum Insurance hit by The Motoring Organization following their dispute over information misuse, and a former police constable pursue defamation against a colleague for allegedly instigating a campaign of harassment against her. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
-
July 26, 2024
Engineering Firm IMI Announces £100M Share Buyback
IMI PLC on Friday unveiled a £100 million ($129 million) share repurchase program and proposed a dividend boost as the British engineering firm reported improved profits.
Expert Analysis
-
German Draft Bill Reflects Trend Toward New Antitrust Tools
A recently proposed amendment to the German Act against Restraints on Competition continues the trend in Europe to equip authorities with greater powers, shifting from a more traditional approach to a more extensive market protection tool, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
-
How COVID, Supply Chain Woes Are Fueling Air Cargo M&A
The pandemic has triggered a shift in the air cargo market, with supply chain issues and demand for expedited service attracting new investment — and M&A interest will likely continue, even as inflation and other factors damp enthusiasm, say Solange Leandro and Alison Weal at Watson Farley.
-
What To Expect From A Simplified EU Merger Control System
The European Commission’s draft amendments to the EU merger control system, expected to be formally adopted shortly, reduce its administrative burden and expand the scope of the simplified procedure to additional categories of transactions, providing a welcome development for companies and their advisers, say Axel Gutermuth and Lukas Šimas at Arnold & Porter.
-
How The Pandemic And UK Security Law Are Changing Deals
Deal makers must consider how the COVID-19 pandemic has shaped the approach to material adverse change provisions in the U.K. and U.S., and how the new U.K. National Security and Investment Act regime will affect investors across the globe seeking to acquire material influence in a U.K. company, say attorneys at Covington.
-
3 Foreign Investment Issues Affecting Cross-Border Deals
Now more than ever, managing the increasingly complex foreign direct investment considerations for successfully completing cross-border transactions requires parties to be attentive to the evolving regulatory landscape, particularly in the U.K. and EU, say Chase Kaniecki and William Dawley at Cleary.
-
A Review Of The New UK Financial Services And Markets Bill
In revoking retained EU law and replacing it with U.K.-specific legislation, the new Financial Services and Markets Bill should mean a less cumbersome and more accessible regulatory regime than the existing patchwork of requirements, with provisions that address consumers’ concerns that they were not adequately protected, say attorneys at Ashurst.
-
Tracking The Global Move Toward Tighter Mergers Scrutiny
The recent merger control case of Vivendi and Lagardère in France is indicative of a global trend of competition authorities applying stricter standards to concentrations and pursuing an increasingly aggressive enforcement agenda, particularly in the media sector, says Jérémie Marthan at White & Case.
-
Dutch Merger May Promote Behavioral Remedies Across EU
A Dutch tribunal's recent clearing of the Sanoma-Iddink deal might further encourage merging parties in the EU to offer — and government agencies to accept — behavioral remedies, which was rarer when more emphasis was put on divestments, says Robert Hardy at Greenberg Traurig.
-
Proposed Foreign Subsidy Regulation Has Political Overtones
The European Commission's proposed Foreign Subsidies Regulation aims to prevent subsidies that have a distortive effect on competition from being granted to foreign companies, but in directing it against governments that use companies to extend their influence in the EU, the implications are clearly political, say Lena Sandberg and Yannis Ioannidis at Gibson Dunn.
-
Early Trends In UK National Security Reviews Of Transactions
The U.K.'s move to block an intellectual property deal between Beijing Infinite Vision Technology and the University of Manchester — the first such prohibition under the recently implemented National Security and Investment Act — is part of a growing body of published decisions that provides useful lessons on achieving prompt security clearance, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
-
Guidance Notes Offer Insight On UK National Security Regime
The U.K. government recently published long-awaited market guidance notes that add a greater level of transparency regarding the national security and investment regime, providing welcome guidance to businesses and their legal advisers on submitting transaction notifications, say attorneys at Cooley.
-
Ruling On EU Commission Merger Reviews Signifies U-Turn
In validating the European Commission's new policy of using Merger Regulation Article 22 to review cases that do not qualify under the merger control rules of the requesting member state, the General Court has demonstrated that the EU is prepared to move the goal posts on well-established commission policy, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
-
Where New UK And EU Vertical Agreements Rules Diverge
The lack of alignment between new EU and U.K. rules on vertical agreements is likely to present challenges to multinational businesses, and it would be prudent for legal advisers and companies to bear in mind the most stringent obligations of both, says Robert Bell at Armstrong Teasdale.
-
A Look Ahead At What The German M&A Market Holds In Store
Despite signs of a possible recession, there is still significant M&A activity in the German market, with long-term strategic planning, private equity investors, multiparty involvement and even the state all playing an important role, says Michael Ulmer at Cleary.
-
Tips For Handling Audio Data In E-Discovery Post-Pandemic
The rise of remote meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the volume and importance of audio data in e-discovery — so organizations in highly regulated industries must collect and process that data, and establish complex strategies to manage their audio records, says Jack Bullen at FTI Consulting.