South African private equity firm Brait in £1.3bn Virgin Active takeover April 16, 2015 High end gym chain Virgin Active was yesterday sold to a South African private equity outfit, scuppering longstanding plans by the company to float on the stock market. Brait, a private equity firm based in Johannesburg, will take an 80 per cent controlling stake in the group, which has 1.3m members and 267 clubs. [...]
Nokia confirms €15.6bn Alcatel takeover April 15, 2015 Nokia has confirmed plans to buy French telecoms giant Alcatel-Lucent for €15.6bn (£11.3bn). The Finnish company said it had offered 0.55 new shares in Nokia worth €4.27 each per Alcatel share, representing a 28 per cent premium over Alcatel's average share price over the last three months. The two sides said combining their businesses will [...]
FTSE 100 stocks rise again on merger activity – London Report April 14, 2015 MINING stocks helped take the FTSE 100 close to another record high yesterday while potential deal activity also gave the stock market a boost. Miners such as Anglo American, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton rose 2.8 to 4.1 per cent as metal prices bounced up off their earlier lows. The UK mining index was up three [...]
Top PRs Roland Rudd and Sir Alan Parker brought together by Shell’s BG Group takeover April 9, 2015 Rarely does one get the two titans of the financial PR world, Finsbury’s Roland Rudd and Brunswick’s Sir Alan Parker, in the same room – but that’s exactly what happened earlier this week in the prep meeting for Shell’s agreed £47bn takeover of BG Group. Observers say that Rudd stood up to shake his rival’s [...]
Birmingham City receivers now weighing up seven takeover bids April 8, 2015 BIRMINGHAM City fans could soon see their club freed from years of boardroom turmoil after the club’s parent company announced it had received two more takeover offers on top of the five already confirmed. In a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, receivers Ernst and Young who have been running Birmingham International Holdings Limited [...]
Birmingham City receivers weigh up seven takeover bids April 8, 2015 Birmingham City fans could soon see their club freed from years of boardroom turmoil after the club's parent company announced it had received two more takeover offers on top of the five already confirmed. In a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, receivers Ernst and Yong who have been running Birmingham International Holdings Limited [...]
Royal Dutch Shell BG Group deal: The 14 biggest M&A deals ever made April 8, 2015 Royal Dutch Shell's takeover of BG Group for a pretty impressive price tag of £47bn makes it the 14th largest M&A deal in history. The latest deal may be big, but it doesn't even compare to the largest (though ultimately disastrous) merger of all time – AOL and Time Warner. The biggest deal ever made [...]
Royal Dutch Shell BG Group mega-merger: Are there more oil deals on the way? April 8, 2015 Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell announced a takeover of gas producer BG Group today, in a deal worth £47bn. So is this the start of an oil mega-merger party? About 15 years ago low oil prices caused something similar. (Source: A.T. Kearney) Between 1998 and 1999, oil prices halved to just $10 per barrel, sparking a wave [...]
Royal Dutch Shell BG Group mega-merger: Four things you need to know about the takeover deal April 8, 2015 After BG's board recommended a massive £47bn takeover by Shell, these are the four big things you need to know about the deal. 1. It’s the 14th biggest takeover ever The deal swoops into the record books as the 14th largest M&A deal in history. It will create the biggest company on the FTSE. It's [...]
BG Group share price rockets while Shell tumbles after takeover deal April 8, 2015 Shares in BG Group have rocketed in early trading after a takeover deal by Royal Dutch Shell was confirmed. BG shares shot up more than 40 per cent to 1298.50 pence per share on yesterday's close of 910.40 pence per share – their highest since September. Shares in BG, along with other oil producers, have been [...]