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Transactions UK
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April 29, 2024
Simmons-Led REIT Buys Carrefour Stores For €75M
Supermarket Income REIT PLC said on Monday that it has bought a portfolio of Carrefour supermarkets for €75.3 million ($80.6 million) in a sale and leaseback transaction, as the property investor eyes entry into the French real estate market.
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April 26, 2024
L Catterton Buys Majority Stake In KIKO Milano At $1.5B Value
Private equity firm L Catterton said Friday it has agreed to buy a majority stake in the Percassi family's beauty brand KIKO Milano, in a deal steered by Italian law firms Bonelli Erede Lombardi Pappalardo and Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Ludovici, respectively, along with several additional consultants and financial advisers.
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April 29, 2024
Lawyer's Death Puts Spotlight On Industry's All-Hours Culture
Law firms are churning out mental health policies and well-being initiatives, but an inquest into the death of Vanessa Ford, a transactions partner at Pinsent Masons LLP, has shone an uncomfortable light on the sector's long-hours culture.
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April 26, 2024
Freshfields Guides PE Giant CVC Capital's Upsized $2.1B IPO
European private equity giant CVC Capital Partners PLC rose in debut trading Friday after the firm priced an upsized €2 billion ($2.1 billion) initial public offering, marking the latest high-profile listing in Europe, represented by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP.
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April 26, 2024
Austrian Property Biz Buys Czech Assets For €176M
Austrian real estate company S Immo has agreed to acquire a commercial property portfolio in the Czech Republic for a net consideration of approximately €176 million ($188 million) from a unit of European property company CPI Property Group SA.
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April 26, 2024
BoE To Include Funded Re In Life Insurance Stress Test
The Bank of England has said it will consider the risks posed by offshore reinsurance contracts when it carries out a stress test on life insurers in 2025.
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April 26, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen budget airline Ryanair file a claim against NATS PLC after the air traffic controller's system collapsed, Mastercard and Visa Europe face group claims from Christian Dior and dozens of other beauty retailers, an intellectual property clash between the publisher of The Sun and ITV, and ISC Europe sue a former director for alleged money laundering. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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April 26, 2024
Law Firm Racine Advises On €26M Sale Of Healthcare Unit
Wilmington PLC said Friday it has offloaded its healthcare business APM for €26 million ($28 million) to Philia Medical Editions SAS, which was advised by French law firm Racine.
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April 26, 2024
CMA Probes Deal For UK Ventilator Biz Over Cost Fears
The Competition and Markets Authority said Friday it has concerns that Swedish ventilation company Lindab's attempt to buy a British rival, HAS-Vent, could result in higher prices for consumers.
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April 26, 2024
Kirkland Steers $5B US Bid For Latham-Led Cybersecurity Biz
British cybersecurity company Darktrace said Friday that it has agreed to accept a bid of approximately $5.3 billion to take it private from U.S. private equity firm Thoma Bravo, in a deal steered by Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Latham & Watkins LLP.
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April 26, 2024
Anglo American Snubs BHP's £31B Takeover Bid
Multinational miner Anglo American said Friday that it has rejected a £31.1 billion ($39 billion) takeover bid from its Australian heavyweight rival, BHP Group, saying the offer "significantly undervalues" the company and its prospects.
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April 25, 2024
Rubrik Leads Trio Of IPOs That Buoy Recovering Market
Three companies debuted trading Thursday following initial public offerings that raised nearly $1.4 billion combined under guidance from six total law firms, including two offerings that priced above range by data security firm Rubrik and aerospace company Loar, providing fresh energy for a strengthening IPO market.
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April 25, 2024
UK Antitrust Arm Frontloads In-Depth Merger Probes
U.K. antitrust authorities finalized extensive changes Thursday to their in-depth merger probes, with an emphasis on frontloading the process for sooner — and more informal — talks with companies under investigation.
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April 25, 2024
Pharma R&D Biz Set To Exit London Market
Pharmaceutical development specialist C4X Discovery Holdings PLC is set to delist from the London Stock Exchange on Friday, as it looks to go private to raise more funds amid concerns about the regulatory "burden" linked to its junior market.
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April 25, 2024
Kirkland Guides $2.7B PE Deal For Wealth Management Tech
U.S. private equity firm GTCR said Thursday it has agreed to buy AssetMark, a prominent wealth management technology platform, for approximately $2.7 billion, as the U.S. private equity firm moves to strengthen its presence in the sector.
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April 25, 2024
Reed Smith Guides Titan's £77M London Property Buy
Derwent London PLC said on Thursday it has sold its London property Turnmill EC1 for £77.35 million ($97 million) to British investment manager Titan Investors, which was represented by Reed Smith LLP.
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May 02, 2024
RPC Hires 4-Lawyer Risks Team From Mayer Brown
Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP has boosted its professional liability disputes and regulatory offering with the hire of four specialists from Mayer Brown LLP to its office in London.
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April 25, 2024
Wachtell Steers Perrigo In €275M Unit Sale To Pharma Biz
Healthcare company Perrigo said Thursday that it has agreed to sell its pharmaceutical division for rare diseases to pharmaceutical company Esteve Healthcare SL for €275 million ($295 million) in a deal guided by Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz and Clifford Chance LLP.
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April 25, 2024
AIM-Listed Mineral Co. Eyes £19M Merger With Gold Miner
Ariana Resources PLC said Thursday it has agreed to an all-share merger worth £19.4 million ($24.3 million) with Rockover Holdings Ltd., a Zimbabwe-focused gold miner, as the London-listed mineral explorer aims to expand its presence in Africa.
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April 25, 2024
Hipgnosis Ditches Blackstone Bid For Concord's $1.5B Offer
Hipgnosis Songs has accepted a revised offer from its U.S. competitor Concord Chorus to buy the music rights investor for $1.5 billion, ditching Blackstone's $1.2 billion offer just days after accepting the private equity giant's deal.
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May 02, 2024
Travers Smith To Lose 2 Private Equity Partners To Goodwin
Goodwin Procter LLP said on Thursday that it has recruited two private equity specialists from Travers Smith LLP as the U.K. law firm battles to regain its footing after its partner losses hit double digits in 2023.
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April 25, 2024
BHP Bids £31B For Linklaters-Led Rival Miner Anglo American
BHP Group said Thursday that it has offered to buy out Anglo American in a transaction valuing the British multinational at £31.1 billion ($38.9 billion), as the Australian mining giant looks to bolster its commodities portfolio.
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April 24, 2024
Ex-Autonomy GC Tells Jurors He Wanted To Be 'Helpful' To HP
Autonomy's former U.S. general counsel conceded Wednesday in the criminal trial of former CEO Michael Lynch that he told an HP lawyer he wanted to be as "helpful" as possible to the company as it was investigating Autonomy-related issues that popped up after the Silicon Valley giant purchased the British company, and that he was told he could face liability for his work at Autonomy.
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April 24, 2024
SPAC Says Potential £22M Engineering Biz Takeover Scrapped
Rockpool Acquisitions PLC, a special purpose acquisition company, on Wednesday announced the termination of its planned takeover worth approximately £22 million of Amcomri Group Ltd., saying it will look elsewhere for other deals.
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April 24, 2024
CMA Chair Defends Agency's Interventionist Merger Approach
The chair of the Competition and Markets Authority has defended the U.K.'s antitrust watchdog's aggressive and interventionist attitude, saying it helps drive the country's "economic growth and productivity."
Expert Analysis
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EU Antitrust Rules Set To Pose Challenges To US Businesses
With stark differences between U.S. and European Union antitrust regimes, and potential for the forthcoming EU guidelines to turbocharge the commission's appetite for intervention, it is important that U.S. businesses with activities in the region take note of the reforms, say Andrea Pomana and Sarah Wilks at Mayer Brown.
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German Competition Law May Herald New Enforcement Trend
The recent amendment to the German Act against Restraints of Competition is expected to significantly expand the powers of the German Federal Cartel Office, and could signal a global trend toward greater direct intervention by national competition authorities and political interference in competition law, say lawyers at Simmons & Simmons.
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How The OECD Global Tax Proposal Could Affect M&A
Following agreement on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Pillar Two proposal to introduce a global minimum tax, domestic implementation is expected to have a significant impact on international M&A transactions, with financial modeling, deal structuring, risk allocation and joint venture arrangements likely to be affected, say lawyers at Freshfields.
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A Look At German And French Merger Control Trends In 2023
Merger control statistics from the first half of 2023 in Germany and France — key merger control jurisdictions with strict enforcement and sophisticated analysis tools — highlight trends on the length and number of investigations by the respective authorities, say Laurence Bary and Clemens Graf York von Wartenburg at Dechert.
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UK Shares-Tax Proposals Offer Long-Awaited Modernization
The U.K. government's recent consultation on the introduction of a new tax on transactions in securities raises detailed legal and practical issues, but the prospect of a single digital stamp tax offering both streamlined legislation and administration will be welcomed, say Zoë Arnautov and Mark Sheiham at Simmons & Simmons.
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EU Illumina-Grail Fine Cools Cos.' Merger Control Approach
The European Commission's recent record-breaking fine on Illumina for acquiring Grail without approval underscores its tough stance on merger control enforcement, showing that companies in Europe need to be vigilant in complying with regulatory requirements, say Salomé Cisnal de Ugarte and Raphaël Fleischer at King & Spalding.
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EU Case Shows Wide Approach To Blocking Telecom Mergers
The EU court's recent judgment in Commission v. CK Telecoms may make it more challenging to secure clearance for telecom and other companies pursuing mergers, illustrating its broad approach to mergers that risk harming competition without creating a dominant position, say Dominic Long and Christopher Best at Allen & Overy.
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PR Perspectives: Getting Merger Communications Right
As the recent Allen & Overy and Shearman Sterling deal announcement demonstrates, controlling the narrative is the priority when merger discussions begin, so law firms need to consider their stakeholder base and the best communication channels for each segment, ready to adapt to the audience group's needs, say Ben Girdlestone and Bethany Durkin at Byfield.
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Trustees Should Take Caution After UK Pension Tap Plan
The U.K. government's recent plan to boost technology startups by tapping into pension sector funds may risk the hard-earned savings of members, so trustees need to be mindful of the proposals in light of their fiduciary duties, say Beth Brown and Riccardo Bruno at Arc Pensions.
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Report On UK Investment Act Offers Welcome Insights
The U.K. government's recent report on the National Security and Investment Act's first full year of operation is to be applauded for disclosing more information on the act's notification system than was required, enabling a better understanding of what has taken place and what the next year may hold, say Andrea Hamilton and Ajal Notowicz at Milbank.
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Preparing For M&A Under The Foreign Subsidies Regulation
The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation introduces requirements that companies operating in the region must consider in M&A transactions, and any foreign financial contributions received by a target should be checked during the due diligence stage, with specific provisions for commission approval if a notification requirement is triggered, say Hendrik Viaene and Stéphane Dionnet at McDermott.
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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.