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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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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.
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Global M&A Outlook: Slow But Moving Along
Global merger and acquisition markets had a tough start to the year, with inflation, rising interest rates and the Ukraine conflict knocking sentiment, but in the macroeconomic, deal makers have continued to unearth pockets of activity to keep deal volumes ticking over, say lawyers at White & Case.
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Why Int'l Investors Should Keep An Eye On German M&A Regs
While German reform proposals will digitize corporate law formalities that have long been immune to change, international limitations remain, particularly for countries outside the European Union, as Germany moves to tighten regulatory hurdles to control inbound investment, say Marcus Geiss and Sonja Ruttmann at Gibson Dunn.
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CMA Review Could Help Shape UK's AI Landscape
The Competition and Markets Authority's recent review of the U.K. market for artificial intelligence foundation models is likely to feed into its recommendations concerning future legislative and regulatory changes, but may be overtaken by fast-changing developments, say lawyers at Cooley.
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Microsoft Takeover Shows The Need For EU-UK Cooperation
The differing European Commission and U.K. Competition and Markets Authority outcomes regarding Microsoft's planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard demonstrate the need for better cooperation in the post-Brexit era, but the regulators still follow a rigorous approach and ultimately convergence may prevail over divergence, say Salomé Cisnal de Ugarte and Raphaël Fleischer at King & Spalding.
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The Potential Benefits Of New EU Merger Control Rules
The core objective of a newly adopted EU Commission package is to simplify merger review procedures, which is an evolution that is more than welcome, especially in light of the very recent regulation on foreign subsidies that imposes additional burdens on M&A transactions, say lawyers at McDermott.
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Growing EU Scrutiny Increases Hurdles For Foreign Investors
The application of the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation from July will bring further oversight to many large deals, and together with bolt-on strategies, foreign investment regulation and antitrust enforcement, financial sponsors will need to start planning for compliance to avoid potential delays, say Anna Mitchell and Neil Hoolihan at Linklaters.
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How The New UK Digital Markets Bill Will Affect CMA's Powers
The highly anticipated U.K. Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill sets out far-reaching changes in terms of merger control and conduct requirements, but some are skeptical of the Competition and Markets Authority’s enhanced powers and potential for divergence in treatment between firms, say Ben Chivers, Stephen Whitfield and Nigel Seay at Travers Smith.
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M&A Considerations For European Cos. Acquiring US Entities
As investment banks forecast a resurgence of mergers and acquisitions later this year, European companies seeking to acquire U.S. businesses should be aware of key procedural differences and federal regulatory requirements that will affect the process, timing and terms of the transaction, say attorneys at Mintz.
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A Review Of The EU FDI Screening Regulation And Its Scope
The EU advocate general’s recent broad interpretation of the EU Foreign Direct Investment Screening Regulation takes account of some of the geopolitical challenges faced by the bloc, and may foreshadow a revision of the regulation and widen the scope of investments screened, say Vassilis Akritidis and Jean-Baptiste Blancardi at Crowell & Moring.
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Key Takeaways From EU Proposal For Greenwashing Rules
If the proposal for a Green Claims Directive, with its enhanced rules on claims about a product or trader's environmental impact, is adopted, it will affect all businesses selling their products in the EU and bring major changes to the way those products are packaged and advertised, say attorneys at Shearman.
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UK Investment Screening Inches Closer To US Regime
The recent agreement between the U.K. Cabinet Office and House of Commons concerning parliamentary scrutiny of the Investment Security Unit represents a step toward greater transparency of intervention in investments that may raise national security concerns, and underscores increasing alignment with the U.S. regime, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.
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UK Ruling Offers Useful Guidance To Insolvency Practitioners
The recent U.K. High Court ruling in a matter involving Sova Capital represents the first unsecured credit bid to be approved by an English court, demonstrating a pragmatic approach to complex sanctions-related administrations and identifying a novel solution for insolvency practitioners to maximize value for the benefit of creditors, say attorneys at Katten.
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Opinion
Thomas Report Is Final Straw — High Court Needs Ethics Code
As a recent report on Justice Clarence Thomas' ongoing conflicts of interest makes evident, Supreme Court justices should be subject to an enforceable and binding code of ethics — like all other federal judges — to maintain the credibility of the institution, says Erica Salmon Byrne at Ethisphere.
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Ofwat's New Guidance For Water Projects: Key Takeaways
While increased competition is a laudable aim, the U.K. Water Services Regulation Authority's introduction of direct procurement for customers by default for projects above a size threshold could have ramifications for the financial stability of the companies delivering major water infrastructure, say Jennifer Charles and Marianne Anton at Watson Farley.