Category Archives: Mergers and acquisitions

Just Eat Takeaway.com bought by South Africa’s Prosus in €4bn deal

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Food delivery group’s board approves takeover by investor in German rival Delivery Hero

The food delivery business Just Eat Takeaway.com has been snapped up by an investor in its German rival Delivery Hero for €4.1bn (£3.4bn), two months after it left the London Stock Exchange.

Just Eat’s board has unanimously approved the takeover by the South African-owned internet investor Prosus, in an all-cash deal six years after Prosusmade its first effort to buy the British part of the business.

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OpenAI rejects $97.4bn Musk bid and says company is not for sale

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Maker of ChatGPT rebuffs consortium led by Tesla owner and rejects ‘latest attempt to disrupt his competition’

OpenAI on Friday rejected a $97.4bn bid from a consortium led by billionaire Elon Musk for the ChatGPT maker, saying the startup is not for sale.

The unsolicited approach is Musk’s latest attempt to block the startup he co-founded with CEO Sam Altman – but later left – from becoming a for-profit firm, as it looks to secure more capital and stay ahead in the AI race.

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Good Energy agrees near-£100m takeover by UAE-linked firm

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Esyasoft to acquire UK company, which supplies renewable power to about 245,000 households and businesses

A British green electricity supplier, Good Energy, has agreed a near-£100m takeover by a company controlled by a member of Abu Dhabi’s ruling family.

The retail energy company said on Monday it had agreed a deal with the Dubai-headquartered Esyasoft for a cash offer of £4.90 a share, valuing it at £99.4m.

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New year, new deal: the buyout boom poised to take over City lawyers’ lives

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Around-the-clock work will be commonplace to tackle an M&A surge fuelled by tax changes, activist investors … and the Trump factor

Whether they’re on skis or a sunlounger, there is no beach, mountain or fireside that can spare lawyers from the urgent calls of zealous, dealmaking executives and private equity bosses. After a breathless 2024, the City’s army of corporate lawyers are set for another year of masking their poolside backgrounds on video calls, braced for an even busier 2025.

“Sadly, we were incredibly busy in July and August. We were both on holiday and working up to 14 hours a day,” says Patrick Sarch, partner at law firm White & Case and head of its public mergers and acquisitions (M&A) division. He and Sonica Tolani, another partner at the same firm, specialise in advising activist investors.

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Boss of takeover target Direct Line wants time to turn around insurer

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New management at struggling firm, which rejected £3.3bn bid from Aviva, ‘making excellent progress’, says CEO

The Direct Line chief executive, Adam Winslow, has appealed to shareholders to give his team more time to turn around the struggling insurer, faced with an unsolicited £3.3bn offer from Aviva, while its bigger rival is trying hard to drum up support from investors for the takeover.

The two companies – the UK’s biggest insurer, Aviva, and the Churchill owner, Direct Line, known for motor cover and its red phone on wheels mascot – are facing off in a takeover tussle that has sent the Direct Line share price soaring, amid speculation that Aviva could raise its offer or launch a hostile bid, or face a counterbid.

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UK hospitality group Loungers to be bought by US firm for £338m

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London-listed company strikes deal with Fortress Investment Group, although shareholder approval needed

The cafe bar business Loungers has agreed to be bought by a US investment group in a deal that values it at about £338m.

Fortress Investment Group said it had made an offer for the UK hospitality group through a newly formed investment vehicle.

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UK watchdog formally investigates Carlsberg’s £3.3bn takeover of Britvic

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CMA sets 18 December deadline for initial review as it considers whether deal could reduce competition

The UK’s competition watchdog has launched a formal investigation into the £3.3bn takeover of the UK soft drinks maker Britvic by the Danish brewer Carlsberg.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has set a deadline of 18 December for the first phase of its investigation into the deal.

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France warns US buyer of Sanofi division of penalties for shifting production abroad

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Private equity firm CD&R revealed to be in exclusive talks to buy 50% stake in consumer healthcare arm Opella

The French government has warned a US private equity firm buying the consumer healthcare arm of the drugmaker Sanofi that it faces penalties of more than €100m if it does not keep production and jobs in France.

Sanofi is splitting off Opella, which makes the paracetamol brand Doliprane, the laxative Dulcolax and other over-the-counter medicines and vitamins. However, news of talks with the New York-based Clayton, Dubilier & Rice on 11 October prompted fears about French jobs and the loss of control to a foreign company.

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Rightmove rejects £6.2bn takeover offer by Murdoch-backed real estate firm

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FTSE 100 firm turns down fourth offer from the Australian property company REA Group

Rightmove has rejected a £6.2bn takeover offer from REA Group, the Australian real estate firm backed by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

The UK property portal told the City on Monday morning that its board had turned down REA’s fourth offer, having concluded it was “unattractive and materially undervalues Rightmove”.

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Rupert Murdoch’s REA Group raises offer to buy Rightmove to £6.2bn

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Australian group calls on Rightmove board to ‘engage now’ after fourth offer for UK online property portal

Rupert Murdoch’s REA Group has made a fourth attempt to buy Rightmove, increasing its offer to £6.2bn as it steps up its pursuit of the UK’s largest online property portal.

The Australian property group, which is controlled by News Corp, raised its cash and shares offer from the £6.1bn offered earlier this week and called on Rightmove’s board to “engage now” after it refused repeatedly to meet the suitor.

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Owner of 7-Eleven rejects $39bn takeover offer from Canadian rival

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Japanese group says Couche-Tard plan undervalues firm, but leaves door open to higher offer

The parent company of the global convenience store chain 7-Eleven has rejected a near $39bn (£29.6bn) takeover offer from a Canadian rival, arguing it “grossly undervalues” the company.

Last month, Tokyo-based Seven & i revealed that it had received a bid from Alimentation Couche-Tard setting the scene for what could be Japan’s biggest ever foreign takeover.

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Owner of 7-Eleven stores receives buyout offer from Canadian rival

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Proposal to Tokyo-based Seven & i by ACT could become biggest foreign takeover of a Japanese firm

The owner of the global convenience store chain 7-Eleven has received an offer from a Canadian rival to buy the company, in what could be Japan’s biggest ever foreign takeover.

The Tokyo-based Seven & i revealed on Monday that it had received a bid from the Canadian convenience store multinational Alimentation Couche-Tard (ACT) to buy its stake in the company.

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Wood Group suitor pulls out of takeover, blaming market turmoil

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Shares in FTSE 250 company slump 37% in early trading after Dubai-based Sidara cites geopolitical risk

The share price of the British oil services company John Wood Group has plunged by more than a third after a Dubai-based suitor pulled out of a purchase amid global market turmoil.

In a statement to the stock market on Monday the engineering company Sidara said it had pulled out of a bid for Wood “in light of rising geopolitical risks and financial market uncertainty”.

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British chipmaker Graphcore bought by Japan’s SoftBank

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Deal for undisclosed sum secures Bristol-based company’s future after ‘material uncertainty’ in 2023

Graphcore, a British chipmaker once seen as a potential competitor to Nvidia, has been bought by Japan’s SoftBank in a deal that secures the company’s future.

The Bristol-based startup’s products are focused on artificial intelligence and it has been acquired by the powerful Japanese tech investor for an undisclosed sum. Last year, Graphcore warned that there was a “material uncertainty” over its survival and that it needed fresh funding by May 2024.

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Royal Mail goes ahead with cuts to UK flights despite takeover

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Three more freight flights to go this month as parent company’s CEO Martin Seidenberg pursues transformation

The boss of Royal Mail’s parent company has said it will push on with a transformation of the group despite its £3.57bn takeover, as Royal Mail prepares this month to cut more daily freight flights.

Martin Seidenberg, the chief executive of International Distribution Services, plans “the biggest network change in 20 years” to revamp Royal Mail’s deliveries despite uncertainty created by the Czech energy tycoon Daniel Kretinsky’s takeover, which has been backed by the board.

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Hawksmoor for sale in deal that could value restaurant chain at £100m

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Investment bank Stephens hired to find suitors for business, which wants to expand overseas operations

The high-end steakhouse chain Hawksmoor has been put up for sale in a deal that could value it at about £100m.

The restaurant chain has hired the investment bank Stephens to start looking for potential suitors for the business, which is hoping to expand its overseas operation.

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DS Smith’s £5.8bn takeover by US rival going ahead despite competition

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Merger with International Paper moving at ‘absolutely full steam’ in face of separate interest from Brazil’s Suzano

The boss of the FTSE 100 company DS Smith has said its £5.8bn takeover by a US rival is going at “absolutely full steam”, despite concerns it could be derailed by another packaging sector merger.

Miles Roberts, DS Smith’s chief executive, said merger work with International Paper was “going very well” and that he definitely expected the deal to complete.

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Badenoch urged to scrutinise business links of Royal Mail bidder Křetínský

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Business secretary is due to meet Czech tycoon to discuss a takeover the Guardian has raised questions about

The business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, is being pressed to question the Royal Mail bidder Daniel Křetínský on his business links, after the Guardian raised questions about a series of controversial global property deals connected to the Czech billionaire’s longtime business partners.

Badenoch is scheduled to meet the tycoon next week to discuss his £3.57bn bid for the 500-year-old institution, which will be subjected to a review under the National Security and Investment Act.

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Anglo American rejects call by mining rival BHP to extend takeover talks deadline

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British company says concerns not addressed during approach by Australian firm

Anglo American has survived an almost £39bn takeover plot by the Australian mining rival BHP after last-ditch talks over restructuring the 107-year-old company collapsed.

The five-week pursuit came to an end after Anglo rejected BHP’s 11th-hour appeal to extend the takeover talks for a second time, after three failed takeover proposals from the Melbourne-based miner.

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Royal Mail owner warns Czech billionaire’s offer could create risk around finances

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IDS says a change in ownership may lead to ‘material uncertainty’ over the company’s future

Royal Mail’s owner has warned that a potential £3.5bn bid by the Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský could create risk around the company’s finances.

The warning came as the industry regulator Ofcom announced that it had opened an investigation into the parent group, International Distributions Services (IDS), for failing to meet its annual delivery targets for the second year in a row. Last year, Ofcom fined the company £5.6m for failing to meet its first-class and second-class delivery targets in 2022-23.

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