LV to launch fresh charm offensive to get £530m Bain takeover approved November 21, 2021 Insurance mutual LV is this week expected to stage a fresh charm offensive for member-owners to talk up the benefits of a £530m bid from US private equity firm Bain. The takeover for the mutual formerly known as Liverpool Victoria has come into the spotlight after members balked at the prospect of just a £100 payment [...]
Activist fund Gatemore buys stake in DFS and warns of buyout vulnerability November 10, 2021 Gatemore Capital management has bought a stake in DFS and told its fund investors that the sofa chain is undervalued by public markets and thus ripe for a private equity bid. Adding to its roster of listed British retailers, which includes Moss Bros, French Connection and Superdry, the activist fund told investors last month that [...]
Metro Bank shares surge on Carlyle Group takeover approach November 4, 2021 Shares in high street lender Metro Bank jumped 35 per cent today after it confirmed it was in talks with funds linked to the Carlyle Group regarding a takeover. Shares are currently up 35 per cent at 139p per share. It added in a statement there was no certainty an offer would be made and [...]
PE group in talks to sell Racing Post owner for up to £500m October 31, 2021 Spotlight Sports Group, the media entity that owns British horseracing the Racing Post, is reportedly heading towards a £500m sale at auction, as its private equity owner looks to cash in on the growing capital tied to sports betting data. Exponent Private Equity, which scooped up the horseracing publication in 2016, has begun talks with [...]
Carlyle charts record earnings on pandemic recovery October 29, 2021 Global investment firm The Carlyle Group yesterday reported its third quarter earnings increased nearly fivefold, fuelled by record assets sales, predominantly from its private equity portfolio. Distributable earnings rose to a record $731m, up from $152m a year earlier. This brought distributable earnings for the year to date to $1.3bn – an increase of 155 [...]
Morrisons shareholders give seal of approval to $10bn CD&R takeover deal October 19, 2021 Shareholders in Morrisons have voted to approve a £7bn ($9.7bn) takeover bid from US private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, in the official end to a long and heated takeover battle. British supermarket Morrisons said the required majority of three quarters of its shareholders backed the deal at a hybrid in-person and virtual investor [...]
PwC offloads mobility tax consultancy arm to PE group CD&R for $2.2bn October 19, 2021 CD&R has reached a $2.2bn takeover deal with PwC to snap up its global mobility tax and immigration services business, in the consultancy giant’s biggest sell-off in almost two decades. Globally, the unit currently advises more than 3000 organisations with tax and immigration compliance issues when they move staff overseas – a market that more [...]
M&A cash: Uncertainty and reduced leverage capacity make it harder to finance takeovers October 12, 2021 One of China’s biggest property developers, Evergrande, has come under mounting pressure in recent weeks to repay investors and bond holders on the back of three missed payments on over $300bn of liabilities. This potential default has triggered fears across global markets that investors will not get their money back. It has also had an effect on [...]
KKR founders Henry Kravis and George Roberts step down from the throne October 11, 2021 Private equity grandees Henry Kravis and George Roberts, who founded KKR in 1976, are stepping down as co-chief executives of their eponymous buyout firm. Succeeding them, Joe Bae and Scott Nuttall, who have both served as co-presidents for four years, have taken the helm. Both Kravis and Roberts will remain actively involved in the private [...]
‘PE to PE’ deals soar as firms rush to offload $2.3 trillion post-pandemic dry powder October 4, 2021 Private equity to private equity deals, whereby groups sell UK companies to each other, have jumped by 44 per cent in the past year, as firms rush to please investors and deploy capital accumulated during the coronavirus crisis. The number of so-called “PE to PE” deals increased by 44 per cent to 85 in the [...]