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Transactions UK
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May 03, 2024
UK Cites Regulatory Fears Over Utility's £89M Water Biz Buy
The competition watchdog said on Friday that the proposed purchase of Sumisho Osaka Gas Water UK Ltd. by rival Pennon Group in a deal worth approximately £89 million ($112 million) could hinder government regulation of water companies in Britain.
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May 03, 2024
Cosmetics Co. Warpaint Raises £31.5M In Upsized Placing
Warpaint London PLC said Friday it has completed an expanded placing of 7 million shares, raising £31.5 million ($39.5 million), as the U.K.-based makeup supplier looks to fund continued expansion.
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May 03, 2024
Beauty Biz Puig Begins Trading In Spain After €2.6B IPO
Charlotte Tilbury owner Puig Brands SA began trading in Spain on Friday after raising €2.61 billion ($2.8 billion) as part of Europe's largest initial public offering so far in 2024.
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May 03, 2024
Hiscox To Begin Second Tranche Of $150M Share Buyback
Hiscox Ltd. said on Friday that it has launched the second portion of a $150 million share buyback program as it aims to return excess cash to its investors after the global insurer reported record profits for 2023.
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May 03, 2024
Reed Smith Steers £136M Pension Deal For Savings Plan
Insurer Just Group has taken on £136.3 million ($171.2 million) in liabilities from a retirement savings plan, advisers said, in a transaction steered by Reed Smith LLP.
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May 03, 2024
Trainline Announces £75M Share Buyback As Profit Soars
Trainline PLC said on Friday that it will reward investors with a new share repurchase program of up to £75 million ($94 million), as it reported bumper earnings.
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May 03, 2024
US Investors Make $835M Offer For Swedish Legal Info Biz
The board of Swedish professional information services provider Karnov Group said Friday that it is backing a 9.06 billion Swedish kronor ($835 million) takeover offer from U.S. investment firms Greenoaks Capital Partners LLC and Long Path Partners LP.
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May 02, 2024
Whistleblower Claims Would 'Destroy' Autonomy, GC Was Told
Autonomy's former U.S. general counsel testified Thursday in the criminal fraud trial of former CEO Michael Lynch that the company's chief operating officer didn't want a whistleblower's claims to get into court, telling him that while the "law" was on their side, "the facts look bad" and would "destroy Autonomy."
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May 02, 2024
House Seeks FTC Info On Scuttled Amazon-IRobot Deal
The Republican-controlled House Committee on Oversight and Accountability is launching an investigation into the Federal Trade Commission's purported efforts to block Amazon's purchase of iRobot, according to a Wednesday letter from Rep. James Comer, R-Ky.
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May 02, 2024
Insurers Don't Have To Cover Deal Soured Over Bribery Woes
A London appeals court on Thursday rejected a holding company's bid to overturn a ruling that found its insurers were not liable for losses it suffered when its acquisition of a construction contractor went south after bribery and corruption allegations.
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May 02, 2024
Deals Rumor Mill: Coca-Cola, General Mills, MLB's Giants
Coca-Cola is preparing an IPO for its African bottling division, cereals giant General Mills is exploring selling its North America yogurt business, and a 5% stake in the San Francisco Giants is up for sale at a price that could value the club at $4 billion. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.
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May 02, 2024
Freshfields-Led Novartis Inks $1.75B Cancer Drug Co. Buyout
Novartis AG said Thursday it has agreed to buy U.S. radiopharmaceutical company Mariana Oncology in a transaction worth up to $1.75 billion, as the Swiss pharmaceutical giant moves to bolster its precision nuclear medicine portfolio.
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May 02, 2024
Shell To Buy Back $3.5B Worth Of Shares
Shell PLC said Thursday it will reward its shareholders with $3.5 billion in share buybacks over the next three months, as the energy giant reported a rise in profits to $7.7 billion for the first quarter of the year.
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May 02, 2024
ING Kicks Off €2.5B Share Buyback With Q1 Results
Dutch multinational bank ING said Thursday that it will buy back up to €2.5 billion ($2.7 billion) of its shares to streamline its capital-to-stock ratio, as it announced strong financial results for the first quarter of the year.
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May 02, 2024
Adhesives Biz Diploma Buys Sealings Specialist For £38M
Diploma PLC, a specialty fasteners and adhesives company, said Thursday it has acquired sealings firm PAR Group for approximately £38 million ($47.6 million).
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May 02, 2024
DLA Piper Leads Bar Group On Sale Talks With Rival Chain
Revolution Bars Group PLC said on Thursday that it has held discussions for a potential takeover by U.K. rival Nightcap PLC.
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May 01, 2024
Autonomy CEO's Atty Says Judge 'One-Sided' Against Client
A Steptoe LLP partner representing former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch in his criminal fraud jury trial accused the judge overseeing the case of making comments to the jury that are "one-sided" in a way that prejudices the defense.
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May 01, 2024
BBVA Makes €12B Offer For TSB Parent Sabadell
Banking giant BBVA on Wednesday said it has proposed to buy Banco de Sabadell for approximately €12 billion ($12.8 billion) in an all-share deal to create one of Europe's largest financial bodies with more than €1 trillion in assets.
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May 01, 2024
CMA Worries DJs Might Pay More If Equipment Makers Merge
The antitrust regulator of the U.K. on Wednesday said that DJ equipment maker AlphaTheta's proposed acquisition of audio technology company Serato could increase costs for DJs in the country to keep partygoers entertained.
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May 01, 2024
Gov't To Pay £19K For Worker Status Error
An employment tribunal has ruled that the government owes a company director £19,522 ($24,371) after the Insolvency Service rejected his redundancy payment claims and mistakenly concluded that he wasn't an employee.
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May 01, 2024
Norton Rose-Led Touchstone Bids £24.1M For Rival
Touchstone Exploration said Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire a rival oil and gas company for approximately £24.1 million ($30 million) in a bid to scale its business in Trinidad and Tobago, with guidance from Norton Rose and Pinsent Masons.
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May 01, 2024
UK Safety Biz Halma Acquires Testing Tech Firm For £44M
Halma PLC said on Wednesday that it has snapped up MK Test Systems Ltd., an electrical testing technology company, for £44 million ($55 million) as it continues to splurge cash on mergers and acquisitions.
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April 30, 2024
Ex-Autonomy VP Says CEO Lynch Told Him To Lie To Investors
A former Autonomy business development executive testified Tuesday that CEO Mike Lynch directed him to lie to a hedge fund investor about prepaid royalty deals that boosted the company's upfront revenue numbers, saying at Lynch's criminal fraud trial that it was hard to say no to the "big boss."
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May 07, 2024
Kingsley Napley Hires M&A Pro From Deloitte
Kingsley Napley LLP has hired a partner from Deloitte LLP as it seeks to expand its corporate practice and its focus on mergers and acquisitions despite the slowdown in the U.K. deals market.
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April 30, 2024
Oil Co. Claims Nigeria In For Windfall From $11B Win Legal Bill
An oil and gas company urged a London appellate court on Tuesday to change the currency for Nigeria's legal costs from a battle over an $11 billion arbitration award due to bribery and fraud, arguing the West African state would profit from exchange rate fluctuations.
Expert Analysis
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New Clarity On Directors' Creditor Duty In Insolvency Context
The recent case of BTI 2014 v. Sequana, the first to consider the creditor duty at U.K. Supreme Court level, provides directors and insolvency practitioners with significant guidance on how close to insolvency the company needs to be for the creditor duty to be engaged, say attorneys at Shearman.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.