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Transactions UK
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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).
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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July 26, 2024
Legal Services Biz To Buy UK Regional Law Firm For £12.5M
Knights Group Holdings PLC said Friday that it has agreed to buy Thursfields Legal Ltd., an independent, full-service regional law firm, for £12.5 million ($16.1 million), as the growing legal and professional services company moves to expand its presence in central England.
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July 26, 2024
NatWest To Buy £2.5B Mortgage Portfolio From Metro Bank
NatWest will acquire a £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) portfolio of U.K. residential mortgages from Metro Bank as it seeks to expand its retail book without taking on unnecessary risk, the lenders said on Friday.
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August 01, 2024
Bracewell Hires 11 Norton Rose Energy Attys In Paris Launch
Bracewell LLP said Thursday it has opened a new office in Paris with the hiring of an 11-lawyer team of energy and infrastructure specialists from Norton Rose Fulbright in a move to develop its legal services in France and in French-speaking countries in Africa.
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July 25, 2024
Deals Rumor Mill: Wiz-Google, Daily Telegraph, Medline IPO
Cybersecurity startup Wiz has rebuffed a buyout offer from Google, former British finance minister Nadhim Zahawi is preparing a $773 million bid for the Daily Telegraph, and medical supplies giant Medline is preparing an initial public offering for 2025. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.
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July 25, 2024
Audit Watchdog Sanctioned Firms £48M Last Year
The Financial Reporting Council revealed Thursday that it fined firms a total of £48.2 million ($62 million) in the financial year ended March 31, including a £21 million fine against auditor KPMG related to its accounting for construction giant Carillion prior to its collapse in 2018.
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July 25, 2024
Fintech Co. To Return £150M To Shareholders With Buyback
Global fintech company IG Group said Thursday that it will buy back up to £150 million ($193 million) of its shares over the next six months to return excess cash to its shareholders.
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July 25, 2024
BAE Systems' First Tranche Of £1.5B Buyback Takes Off
BAE Systems PLC on Thursday launched the first part of a new share repurchase program worth up to £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) that the arms and aerospace giant said is aimed at lowering its outstanding share capital.
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July 25, 2024
Indivior Announces $100M Buyback To Trim Market Capital
Addiction treatment company Indivior PLC said Thursday that it plans to return $100 million to its shareholders in its latest share buyback program over the next six months to reduce the number of its shares in the market.
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July 25, 2024
Bird & Bird-Led Comms Biz Buys Rival For Up To £13M
Gamma Communications PLC said Thursday that it has bought call center technology specialist BrightCloud Group Ltd. in a transaction worth up to £13 million ($17 million), as the telecommunication services provider looks toward expansion in Europe.
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July 25, 2024
FCA Consumer Duty Deadline May Spark Clash With UK Gov't
The new Labour government and the Financial Conduct Authority could be heading for a clash over what constitutes a vulnerable consumer and how the laws protecting them from abuse should be enforced.
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July 24, 2024
London Tech Week Co. To Make £1.2B Bid For Lions Owner
British publisher and events company Informa PLC said Wednesday that it has offered to acquire exhibitions company Ascential PLC, which owns the Cannes Lions and Money20/20 brands, for approximately £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) to expand its business-to-business events space.
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July 24, 2024
Outsourcer Mitie Doubles Share Buyback To £100M
Mitie Group PLC said Wednesday that it will extend its current £50 million ($65 million) share buyback program to £100 million after it posted strong financial results and showed positive momentum.
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July 24, 2024
US, British PE Firms Make €2.2B Offer For Cybersecurity Biz
Cybersecurity firm Exclusive Networks said Wednesday that it has been handed a takeover offer of approximately €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion) from a consortium made up of U.S. private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice and its biggest shareholder, Permira.
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July 24, 2024
Grainger Acquires Manchester Real Estate For £31M
Grainger PLC said Wednesday it has bought 135 homes in a build-to-rent scheme in Manchester for £31 million ($40 million), as the U.K. property manager looks to bolster its high-quality apartment portfolio to meet growing demand.
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July 24, 2024
UniCredit To Buy Vodeno, Aion Bank For €370M
Italy's UniCredit said Wednesday that it will buy cloud-based digital banking services provider Vodeno and online bank Aion for approximately €370 million ($401 million) in total as a foray into new financial technology.
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July 24, 2024
Student Housing Biz Unite Raises £450M Through Share Sale
Unite said Wednesday that it has raised £450 million ($580 million) by selling new shares to institutional and retail investors to help the student housing manager fund its pipeline of properties.
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July 24, 2024
Vodafone, Spanish Co. Agree To Create Joint Fiber Biz
The owner of Vodafone's Spanish subsidiary said Wednesday that it has agreed to form a national fiber-optic network-sharing company in Spain with MasOrange SL to expand its presence in the country.
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July 23, 2024
Microsoft Calls FTC Price Hike Claims 'Misleading' At 9th Circ
Microsoft pushed back against the Federal Trade Commission's contention that an increase in the company's gaming subscription pricing is evidence of the anticompetitive effects of the software giant's $68.7 billion acquisition of game developer Activision Blizzard Inc., calling the commission out for trying to "reinvent" its case against the merger on appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
Expert Analysis
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German Competition Law May Herald New Enforcement Trend
The recent amendment to the German Act against Restraints of Competition is expected to significantly expand the powers of the German Federal Cartel Office, and could signal a global trend toward greater direct intervention by national competition authorities and political interference in competition law, say lawyers at Simmons & Simmons.
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How The OECD Global Tax Proposal Could Affect M&A
Following agreement on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Pillar Two proposal to introduce a global minimum tax, domestic implementation is expected to have a significant impact on international M&A transactions, with financial modeling, deal structuring, risk allocation and joint venture arrangements likely to be affected, say lawyers at Freshfields.
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A Look At German And French Merger Control Trends In 2023
Merger control statistics from the first half of 2023 in Germany and France — key merger control jurisdictions with strict enforcement and sophisticated analysis tools — highlight trends on the length and number of investigations by the respective authorities, say Laurence Bary and Clemens Graf York von Wartenburg at Dechert.
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UK Shares-Tax Proposals Offer Long-Awaited Modernization
The U.K. government's recent consultation on the introduction of a new tax on transactions in securities raises detailed legal and practical issues, but the prospect of a single digital stamp tax offering both streamlined legislation and administration will be welcomed, say Zoë Arnautov and Mark Sheiham at Simmons & Simmons.
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EU Illumina-Grail Fine Cools Cos.' Merger Control Approach
The European Commission's recent record-breaking fine on Illumina for acquiring Grail without approval underscores its tough stance on merger control enforcement, showing that companies in Europe need to be vigilant in complying with regulatory requirements, say Salomé Cisnal de Ugarte and Raphaël Fleischer at King & Spalding.
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EU Case Shows Wide Approach To Blocking Telecom Mergers
The EU court's recent judgment in Commission v. CK Telecoms may make it more challenging to secure clearance for telecom and other companies pursuing mergers, illustrating its broad approach to mergers that risk harming competition without creating a dominant position, say Dominic Long and Christopher Best at Allen & Overy.
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PR Perspectives: Getting Merger Communications Right
As the recent Allen & Overy and Shearman Sterling deal announcement demonstrates, controlling the narrative is the priority when merger discussions begin, so law firms need to consider their stakeholder base and the best communication channels for each segment, ready to adapt to the audience group's needs, say Ben Girdlestone and Bethany Durkin at Byfield.
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Trustees Should Take Caution After UK Pension Tap Plan
The U.K. government's recent plan to boost technology startups by tapping into pension sector funds may risk the hard-earned savings of members, so trustees need to be mindful of the proposals in light of their fiduciary duties, say Beth Brown and Riccardo Bruno at Arc Pensions.
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Report On UK Investment Act Offers Welcome Insights
The U.K. government's recent report on the National Security and Investment Act's first full year of operation is to be applauded for disclosing more information on the act's notification system than was required, enabling a better understanding of what has taken place and what the next year may hold, say Andrea Hamilton and Ajal Notowicz at Milbank.
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Preparing For M&A Under The Foreign Subsidies Regulation
The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation introduces requirements that companies operating in the region must consider in M&A transactions, and any foreign financial contributions received by a target should be checked during the due diligence stage, with specific provisions for commission approval if a notification requirement is triggered, say Hendrik Viaene and Stéphane Dionnet at McDermott.
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Important Generative AI Considerations In M&A
The recent surge of interest in generative artificial intelligence and its use of machine learning algorithms means there are novel concerns as well as inherent risks for those engaging in M&A activity, and acquirers should pay careful attention to a target’s scope of ownership and licensing rights, say attorneys at Davis Polk.
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Pension Trustee Case Could Lead To Fossil Fuels Divestment
While the recent Court of Appeal case McGaughey v. Universities Superannuation Scheme attempts to link fossil fuel investment by trustees to significant risk of financial detriment, it is concerning that two out of 470,000 scheme members could be permitted to bring a claim without ensuring that other members are represented, says Anna Metadjer at Kingsley Napley.
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Green Loans May Be Hungary's Path To Sustainable Financing
Fueled by a rising trend in the use of green loans, Hungary is making impressive progress in its journey toward achieving a net-zero future, although the development of social and sustainability-linked loans is still a work in progress, say Gergely Szalóki and Bálint Bodó at Schönherr.
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Tackling Global Inflation Is A Challenge For Antitrust Agencies
Recent events have put pressure on antitrust agencies to address the global cost-of-living crisis, but the relationship between competition and inflation is complex, and with competition agencies’ reluctance to act as price regulators, enforcement is unlikely to have a meaningful impact, say lawyers at Linklaters.
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What New FCA Management Will Mean For Enforcement
Therese Chambers’ first speech since becoming the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority’s joint executive director provided insightful observations about the expected behaviors of firms and their legal advisers during investigations, indicating the advent of a proactive, prosecution-minded enforcement agency trying to do the right thing, says Richard Burger at WilmerHale.