The iconic Empire Theatre in Leicester Square has just been sold to Cineworld July 28, 2016 The historic Empire Theatre in Leicester Square is set to be rebranded after the cinema was today sold to Cineworld. The deal sees Cineworld – the second largest cinema operator in Europe – also take on four other venues outside of London from Empire Cinemas. The Chiswick-based operator paid £94m to Empire through a combination of cash and shares as [...]
Private equity boss predicts autumn M&A activity boost for Canada July 27, 2016 The chief executive of private equity firm 3i expects the City to experience a pick-up in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity after the summer. The company’s share price was up more than two per cent to 624p on Wednesday after it reported a “solid start” to the 2016/17 year in the three months to 30 [...]
Deutsche Boerse wins shareholder approval for London Stock Exchange merger July 26, 2016 Deutsche Boerse has won the necessary level of shareholder support for its merger with the London Stock Exchange. The approval rate has now exceeded the 60 per cent set by the German stock exchange. As of 5pm German time on Tuesday, 60.35 per cent of shares had been counted as tendered. Read more: London Stock Exchange [...]
Orange SA misses expectations but gets profit boost from EE sale July 26, 2016 Orange SA – France's largest telecoms company – has posted a sharp rise in its first-half profits due to the sale of its UK network EE to BT. Net profit climbed to €3.17bn (£2.65bn) in the first half, pushed higher from the £12.5bn EE sale. Revenue also climbed thanks to strong sales growth in Spain. It rose by 2.7 per cent to €20.8bn. [...]
An extra pound a pint? Aberdeen Asset Management’s not impressed by new Megabrew offer July 26, 2016 The Megabrew deal lost its cool today, as some key shareholders revealed they were unimpressed by Anheuser-Busch InBev's latest offer for SABMiller's shares. Aberdeen Asset Management has slammed the offer, which would see AB InBev fork out £45 in cash for each SABMiller share. The new offer, which was announced earlier this morning, is an increase of £1 per [...]
Hailo to merge with MyTaxi to take on Uber July 25, 2016 Cab-hailing app Hailo is expected to announce a merger rival app MyTaxi tomorrow. The move is part of a strategic investment by Mercedes-Benz-owner Daimler – the owner of MyTaxi – it was first reported by Sky News. Hailo has been seeking further funding for some time, having had only enough cash to support itself for [...]
UK could lose £250bn in potential M&A deals after Brexit July 25, 2016 Brexit could cost the UK economy hundreds of billions in lost M&A activity over the rest of the decade, as firms hold off wheeling and dealing in the aftermath of the EU referendum. Research for lawyers Baker and McKenzie said a long-drawn out negotiation and prolonged business uncertainty could result in activity shrinking by one-third by [...]
William Hill’s share price jumps as 888 and Rank Group team up for joint bid July 25, 2016 William Hill's share price jumped 10 per cent as markets opened this morning after gaming groups 888 and Rank confirmed they have teamed up to mount a joint bid for high street rival William Hill. Rank's share price rose around three per cent at the open to 249p, while 888's stock was also up around three per [...]
Softbank’s bid for UK chip designer Arm Holdings under the spotlight July 25, 2016 A bumper earnings report from chip designer Arm Holdings is expected to shine a spotlight on the £24.3bn takeover bid from Japanese telecoms group Softbank. Arm will report its second quarter results on Wednesday and it’s projected to record a 20 per cent jump in revenue to £275.5m, while pre-tax profits are thought to have climbed [...]
Sainsbury’s gets blessing from competition watchdog for Argos takeover July 22, 2016 Sainsbury’s proposed acquisition of Home Retail Group has been given clearance by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The body said this morning that it would not be referring the deal for further investigation. J Sainsbury agreed a cash and shares deal, then worth £1.4bn, for the Argos owner in April. Read more: Sainsbury's remains committed [...]