October saw second highest ever month for ‘mega deals’ November 2, 2020 October was a bumper month for mergers and acquisition activity, with the second-highest monthly tally of “mega deals” on record. Nineteen mega deals – worth $5bn or more – were announced last month, a monthly tally exceeded only once, in May 2007, according to data from Refinitiv. Since 1 January, 93 mega deals have been [...]
UK betting firm Genius Sports to go public with $1.5bn US deal October 27, 2020 UK sports data firm Genius Sports Group is planning to go public with a listing on the New York Stock Exchange by merging with special purpose acquisition company Dmy Technology. The deal values the combined group at around $1.5bn. Genius Sports boss Mark Locke will stay on as chief executive following the transaction. Dmy chairman [...]
Customer generation platform MVF buys Appwiki amid online sales surge October 26, 2020 Digital customer generation platform MVF has bought Dutch software comparison site Appwiki amid a surge in the number of firms attempting to boost their online capabilities due to the coronavirus crisis. The acquisition, which will allow MVF to use Appwiki’s comparison technology, comes as demand for digital consumer generation has soared due to the acceleration [...]
Carlyle Group snaps up majority stake in funds firm Calastone October 26, 2020 Global investment firm The Carlyle Group is set to snap up a majority stake in funds network Calastone for an undisclosed amount, it said today. Carlyle said in a statement that it would buy the stake from current shareholders including venture capital firms Octopus Ventures and Accel. It comes with Carlyle nearing an agreement to [...]
US private equity firm Lone Star to buy developer McCarthy & Stone for £630m October 23, 2020 US private equity firm Lone Star has made an offer to buy UK retirement property developer McCarthy & Stone for £630m. McCarthy & Stone has recommended that shareholders approve the deal, which represents a premium of 38.6 per cent to yesterday’s closing share price of 83p. The board said the offer represents “fair value” for [...]
London investment firm Centricus makes surprise entry into Tiktok takeover race October 9, 2020 A little-known British investment firm has reportedly emerged as a shock bidder for Tiktok as it looks to derail Oracle’s tie-up with the Chinese viral video app. London-based Centricus Asset Management has been in negotiations with the chief executive of Tiktok’s parent company Bytedance for weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported. The firm is said [...]
Betfred owner denies rival bid for William Hill October 4, 2020 Betfred co-founder Fred Done has pushed back against reports that he will make a rival bid for William Hill, which has already given the green light to a £2.9bn deal with Las Vegas casino owner Caesars Entertainment. Done, who is William Hill’s second-biggest investor, was weighing up “all options” this weekend, the Sunday Telegraph reported. [...]
Activist investor Trian takes stakes in Invesco and Janus Henderson October 2, 2020 Activist investor Trian Fund Management has reportedly taken stakes in Invesco and Janus Henderson with plans to pursue further deals. Trian has built stakes in both Invesco and Janus enderson of 9.9 per cent, with the positions accounting for a combined $900m (£700m), according to the Wall Street Journal. The money reportedly comes from a [...]
Tiffany wins expedited trial over LVMH’s bid to ditch $16bn takeover September 22, 2020 Tiffany & Co has won a motion to fast-track its lawsuit over LVMH’s bid to abandon a $16.6bn (£12.9bn) takeover of the US jeweller. Tiffany earlier this month sought legal action against luxury goods firm LVMH after the Paris-based company said the takeover deal was “no longer possible”. LVMH, which is owned by French billionaire [...]
M&A sprees are addictive… and they cause me to sell, sell, sell September 15, 2020 | City Talk Aswath Damodaran has a blunt message for companies considering an acquisition: “Don’t do it.” “I firmly believe that acquisitions are an addiction, that once companies start to grow through acquisitions, they cannot stop,” Aswath Damodaran, Professor of Finance at New York University Stern School of Business, told the audience at the CFA Institute Equity Research [...]