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Transactions UK
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May 29, 2024
Royal Mail Owner Accepts £3.6B Bid From Czech Tycoon
The owner of Royal Mail, the British national postal service, said on Wednesday that it has agreed to a £3.57 billion ($4.52 billion) cash buyout offer by a conglomerate controlled by Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský.
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May 29, 2024
Anglo American Rejects Extension To £38.6B BHP Offer
British miner Anglo American PLC rejected a last-minute request from BHP Group to extend takeover talks on Wednesday, even though the Australian rival has offered concessions to help sweeten its latest offer of £38.6 billion ($49.3 billion).
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May 28, 2024
Autonomy Founder Says HP 'Panicked,' Tried To Unwind Deal
Autonomy founder Michael Lynch testified Tuesday in a California federal criminal trial over claims he conned HP into overpaying for his company that HP's board "panicked" after news of the acquisition leaked and HP's stock dropped 20%, that HP fired its CEO and that it attempted to back out of the deal.
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May 28, 2024
Energy Capital Raises $6.7B, Inks $2.6B Atlantica Acquisition
Energy Capital Partners has amassed $6.7 billion for its latest fund and co-investment vehicle and has also struck an agreement to buy Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure for $2.6 billion, according to statements Tuesday.
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May 28, 2024
Cleary-Led Chemical Co. Offers $1B For Swedish Drugmaker
Asahi Kasei Corp. said on Tuesday it had offered to buy out Stockholm-based drugmaker Calliditas Therapeutics AB for 11.1 billion Swedish krona ($1.06 billion), as the Japanese chemical company aims to increase its presence in the global pharmaceutical sector.
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May 28, 2024
Paul Hastings Steers Oakley Capital In ProductLife Investment
Oakley Capital Investments, a listed investment trust that invests in the funds of private equity investor Oakley Capital, said it will indirectly invest an anticipated approximately £41 million ($52.4 million) into compliance services provider ProductLife Group.
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May 28, 2024
Greenberg Traurig Adds Tax Pro From MoFo In London
Greenberg Traurig LLP added to its deep bench of legal talent by recruiting a tax partner from Morrison & Foerster to join the firm's London office and co-chair its tax practice, the firm said.
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May 28, 2024
Aviva Completes £130M Pension Deal With Telereal
A property investment company has offloaded £130 million ($166 million) of its pension liabilities to Aviva PLC, the insurer said Tuesday.
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May 28, 2024
Latham Leads Bridgepoint To Buy Intranet Co. For $650M
Private investor Bridgepoint Group PLC said on Tuesday that its fund has agreed to fully buy out LumApps, a French intranet provider, from its four backers for a total of $650 million, as the British company seeks a slice of the growing technology sector.
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May 28, 2024
Packaging Co. Bunzl Wraps £339M Acquistion Of Nisbets
Bunzl PLC said Tuesday it has completed its purchase of 80% of food service distributor Nisbets for an initial payment of £339 million ($433 million), after receiving regulatory clearance for the transaction.
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May 28, 2024
Pension Deals Market Working For Small Providers, Aon Says
The deal market for small pension schemes looking to offload their liabilities to insurers is working despite fears that such plans are being crowded out of the market, Aon said Tuesday.
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May 28, 2024
Struggling Revolution Bar Chain Says Rescue Plan Won't Work
Troubled nightlife chain Revolution Bars said Tuesday that a rescue deal proposed by Nightcap, a rival operator, is "incapable of being delivered" because of "untested legal and procedural issues."
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May 28, 2024
White & Case Guides ABN Amro On €672M German Bank Buy
Dutch lender ABN Amro said Tuesday that it plans to a buy German private bank for €672 million ($730 million) in a move to become one of the largest providers of banking services to wealthy clients in Germany.
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May 24, 2024
The UK Laws That Will Pass Or Fail As Election Looms
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's decision to call an early general election to be held on July 4 has left several pieces of legislation hanging in the balance during the so-called "wash-up" period before Parliament is formally dissolved, while others have been pushed through.
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May 24, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen an IT engineer seek permission to search a landfill hiding a hard drive supposedly storing millions of pounds in bitcoin, Glencore take on legal action by American Century Investments, gold payment app Glint bring a breach of duty claim against FRP Advisory, and an ongoing dispute between a solicitor and the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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May 24, 2024
Investor CriteriaCaixa Buys Construction Biz Stake For €983M
Spanish investor CriteriaCaixa said on Friday that it has purchased a 9.4% stake in construction and infrastructure firm ACS for €983 million ($1.1 billion), boosting its portfolio of investments.
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May 24, 2024
Viavi's £1B Offer For London-Listed Spirent Lapses
Communications group Viavi said Friday that it is terminating its approximately £1 billion ($1.27 billion) offer that it made in March for telecom testing specialist Spirent after it let the offer period lapse this week by accepting a rival bid.
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May 24, 2024
CMA To Probe $295M Roche Diagnostics Deal
Britain's antitrust regulator said Friday that it has decided to launch a probe into Swiss drugmaker Roche's proposed $295 million purchase of parts of diagnostic company LumiraDx days after inviting public feedback to assess if the deal could harm competition.
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May 24, 2024
John Wood Rebuffs £1.5B Takeover Bid Despite Sweetener
Oil and gas engineering consultancy John Wood Group said on Friday it has rejected a third takeover offer of £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) from Sidara after concluding the sweetened bid "significantly undervalues" its business.
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May 24, 2024
Addleshaw Guides Coventry's £780M Co-op Bank Deal
Coventry Building Society has formalized plans to buy the Co-operative Bank for £780 million ($990 million), the lenders said in a joint statement Friday, a move they claim will create an institution better equipped to challenge larger high street names.
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May 23, 2024
Skadden-Led Hg Buys Risk Platform Co. AuditBoard For $3B
Cooley LLP-advised AuditBoard Inc. on Thursday announced that it has agreed to be bought by European software and services business investor Hg Capital, guided by Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, in a deal valued at over $3 billion.
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May 23, 2024
NY Top Court Revives FanDuel Investors Suit
New York's top appeals court on Thursday revived a suit brought by FanDuel investors who claim they were deprived of profits from a merger, disagreeing with a lower court's interpretation of Scottish law.
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May 23, 2024
Deals Rumor Mill: NY Yankees, Abu Dhabi Bank, Int'l Paper
Yankees’ minority stake could hit the market, First Abu Dhabi could pay $8 billion for a stake in an Istanbul-based lender, and Suzano could sweeten its $15 billion bid for International Paper. Here, Law360 breaks down the notable deal rumors from the past week.
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May 23, 2024
White & Case Adds Former A&O Tax Pro In Luxembourg
White & Case LLP announced it has added a tax partner to its Luxembourg office from A&O Shearman who specializes in international and Luxembourg corporate tax law.
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May 23, 2024
Billionaire Xavier Niel Mulling Potential $4.1B Millicom Buyout
French billionaire Xavier Niel's Atlas Investissement confirmed Thursday that it is exploring a potential all cash tender offer for Luxembourgish telecommunications provider Millicom International Cellular SA.
Expert Analysis
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Important Generative AI Considerations In M&A
The recent surge of interest in generative artificial intelligence and its use of machine learning algorithms means there are novel concerns as well as inherent risks for those engaging in M&A activity, and acquirers should pay careful attention to a target’s scope of ownership and licensing rights, say attorneys at Davis Polk.
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Pension Trustee Case Could Lead To Fossil Fuels Divestment
While the recent Court of Appeal case McGaughey v. Universities Superannuation Scheme attempts to link fossil fuel investment by trustees to significant risk of financial detriment, it is concerning that two out of 470,000 scheme members could be permitted to bring a claim without ensuring that other members are represented, says Anna Metadjer at Kingsley Napley.
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Green Loans May Be Hungary's Path To Sustainable Financing
Fueled by a rising trend in the use of green loans, Hungary is making impressive progress in its journey toward achieving a net-zero future, although the development of social and sustainability-linked loans is still a work in progress, say Gergely Szalóki and Bálint Bodó at Schönherr.
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Tackling Global Inflation Is A Challenge For Antitrust Agencies
Recent events have put pressure on antitrust agencies to address the global cost-of-living crisis, but the relationship between competition and inflation is complex, and with competition agencies’ reluctance to act as price regulators, enforcement is unlikely to have a meaningful impact, say lawyers at Linklaters.
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What New FCA Management Will Mean For Enforcement
Therese Chambers’ first speech since becoming the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority’s joint executive director provided insightful observations about the expected behaviors of firms and their legal advisers during investigations, indicating the advent of a proactive, prosecution-minded enforcement agency trying to do the right thing, says Richard Burger at WilmerHale.
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Global M&A Outlook: Slow But Moving Along
Global merger and acquisition markets had a tough start to the year, with inflation, rising interest rates and the Ukraine conflict knocking sentiment, but in the macroeconomic, deal makers have continued to unearth pockets of activity to keep deal volumes ticking over, say lawyers at White & Case.
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Why Int'l Investors Should Keep An Eye On German M&A Regs
While German reform proposals will digitize corporate law formalities that have long been immune to change, international limitations remain, particularly for countries outside the European Union, as Germany moves to tighten regulatory hurdles to control inbound investment, say Marcus Geiss and Sonja Ruttmann at Gibson Dunn.
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CMA Review Could Help Shape UK's AI Landscape
The Competition and Markets Authority's recent review of the U.K. market for artificial intelligence foundation models is likely to feed into its recommendations concerning future legislative and regulatory changes, but may be overtaken by fast-changing developments, say lawyers at Cooley.
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Microsoft Takeover Shows The Need For EU-UK Cooperation
The differing European Commission and U.K. Competition and Markets Authority outcomes regarding Microsoft's planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard demonstrate the need for better cooperation in the post-Brexit era, but the regulators still follow a rigorous approach and ultimately convergence may prevail over divergence, say Salomé Cisnal de Ugarte and Raphaël Fleischer at King & Spalding.
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The Potential Benefits Of New EU Merger Control Rules
The core objective of a newly adopted EU Commission package is to simplify merger review procedures, which is an evolution that is more than welcome, especially in light of the very recent regulation on foreign subsidies that imposes additional burdens on M&A transactions, say lawyers at McDermott.
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Growing EU Scrutiny Increases Hurdles For Foreign Investors
The application of the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation from July will bring further oversight to many large deals, and together with bolt-on strategies, foreign investment regulation and antitrust enforcement, financial sponsors will need to start planning for compliance to avoid potential delays, say Anna Mitchell and Neil Hoolihan at Linklaters.
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How The New UK Digital Markets Bill Will Affect CMA's Powers
The highly anticipated U.K. Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill sets out far-reaching changes in terms of merger control and conduct requirements, but some are skeptical of the Competition and Markets Authority’s enhanced powers and potential for divergence in treatment between firms, say Ben Chivers, Stephen Whitfield and Nigel Seay at Travers Smith.
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M&A Considerations For European Cos. Acquiring US Entities
As investment banks forecast a resurgence of mergers and acquisitions later this year, European companies seeking to acquire U.S. businesses should be aware of key procedural differences and federal regulatory requirements that will affect the process, timing and terms of the transaction, say attorneys at Mintz.
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A Review Of The EU FDI Screening Regulation And Its Scope
The EU advocate general’s recent broad interpretation of the EU Foreign Direct Investment Screening Regulation takes account of some of the geopolitical challenges faced by the bloc, and may foreshadow a revision of the regulation and widen the scope of investments screened, say Vassilis Akritidis and Jean-Baptiste Blancardi at Crowell & Moring.
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Key Takeaways From EU Proposal For Greenwashing Rules
If the proposal for a Green Claims Directive, with its enhanced rules on claims about a product or trader's environmental impact, is adopted, it will affect all businesses selling their products in the EU and bring major changes to the way those products are packaged and advertised, say attorneys at Shearman.