PwC invests £30m in audit quality but stops short of CMA report recommendations June 5, 2019 Big Four firm PwC said today it plans to invest an extra £30m in its audit practice as part of a package of measures intended to boost quality. PwC’s move comes amid intense scrutiny on the sector which has been rocked by scandals such as the collapse of outsourcer Carillion and the accounting scandal at [...]
Retail tycoon Mike Ashley ‘furious’ after being ‘frozen out’ of Debenhams sale November 1, 2020 Retail mogul Mike Ashley is reportedly “furious” about being “frozen out” of an auction for collapsed department store Debenhams. The Sunday Times reported that lawyers for the tycoon have spent the last week complaining to Lazards and law firm Freshfields that Ashley’s Frasers Group had been given “woefully inadequate” information on the sale. Last week [...]
Caretech half-year revenue booms after Cambian acquisition June 20, 2019 Care home operator Caretech has posted a sharp rise in revenue and profit for the half year after snapping up rival care and education firm Cambian Group. Read more: Competition watchdog launches probe into merger between Caretech and Cambian Group The figures Caretech’s revenue soared 120 per cent to £192.5m in the six months to [...]
Competition regulator preparing to launch fresh court action against Viagogo March 5, 2019 Controversial ticket reseller Viagogo has been slapped with a fresh warning this afternoon from Britain’s competition regulator, which is threatening legal action in the wake of continued concerns over the firm’s practices. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has said today that it is preparing to take Viagogo to court after saying that it is [...]
NHS should be on the table in UK-US trade talks, says senior US Senator October 29, 2020 American pharmaceutical companies should get access to the NHS in a UK-US trade deal, according to the chair of the Senate committee that approves trade agreements. Republican Senator, and chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, Chuck Grassley told City A.M. that a UK-US trade deal “ought to involve almost anything” and that the NHS [...]
Ebay’s acquisition of Motors.co.uk gets the green light from UK competition watchdog February 12, 2019 Ebay's acquisition of car search business Motors.co.uk has been given the all-clear by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The deal, first announced in October, last year, will see Ebay merge Motors.co.uk with its other consumer-facing car sales business Gumtree Motors. The CMA said at the time of launching its probe in December that it [...]
Walmart mulls Asda IPO after Sainsbury’s merger blocked May 15, 2019 Retail giant Walmart has said it is considering a stock market listing for Asda, just weeks after the supermarket’s failed attempt to merge with rival Sainsbury’s. Walmart International boss Judith McKenna said the US chain is considering an initial public offering (IPO) for its UK subsidiary, but said it was “not rushing into anything”. Read [...]
CMA head Lord Tyrie warns Big Four that appetite for audit reform is ‘very strong’ June 5, 2019 The chair of the Competition and Markets Authority Lord Tyrie today warned the Big Four that the appetite for reform of the audit market is “very strong” in government and parliament. “I think the market needs to realise, if they don’t already, that the appetite for whatever is required to address this is very strong, [...]
British competition watchdog to probe JD Sports’ £90m Footasylum merger May 17, 2019 The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating JD Sports' merger with Footasylum, it confirmed today. JD Sports recently completed the acquisition of Footasylum in a deal worth £90m. Read more: Thomas Cook shares crash as investors urged to sell Both JD Sports Fashion and owner of Footasylum, the Pentland Group, have been issued with an initial [...]
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary calls on EU to block KLM bailout June 26, 2020 Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has called on the European Union to block a €3.4bn (£3.1bn) rescue package for the Dutch wing of Air France-KLM. In a statement, O’Leary said: “We call on the European Commission to block this subsidy doping to KLM, which will further reduce competition and consumer choice in the Dutch and French [...]