Daniel Black
Our first Teaser UK is a big moment for M&A Community. Since 2020, we’ve been bringing you the latest M&A news and rumours across Spain, Brazil, Italy, Latin America, and other territories, and we’re excited to be adding the UK to the mix.
Every Friday you’ll get a curated list of topical news and updates from the world of M&A and private equity, including deals, rumours, job moves, market trends, and bonuses.
The three stories that caught my eye this week include:
- Insider trading occurs before 30% of UK takeovers, allegedly…
- Chelsea FC’s owner Todd Boehly is lining up a bid for The Daily Telegraph.
- HSBC announced a raft of senior job moves.
Enjoy the roundup and connect with me on LinkedIn if you want to discuss M&A or anything else besides.
Deal Tracker
Each week we bring you confirmed deals involving UK companies. This week includes a megadeal in the insurance sector and a flurry of activity in the technology space.
The Rumour Mill
- The merger of Vodafone’s domestic business with CK Hutchison’s Three UK, valued at £16.5bn, has been approved by the UK competition regulator and is expected to create Britain’s largest mobile operator.
- Brevan Howard’s flagship Master fund, managing £9.43bn in assets, gained 6.87% in November.
- Barrick Gold’s CEO, Mark Bristow, denied giving “untrue evidence” in court over dealmaker Ian Hannam’s claim that he is owed millions of dollars for engineering its £4.7bn merger with Randgold.
- EQT and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC have agreed to acquire a majority stake in smart metering company Calisen for £3.9bn
- Aviva agrees to buy Direct Line Insurance Group for £3.6bn
- Schroders could raise over £3.2bn by selling its assets management business.
- General Atlantic agrees to take Learning Technologies private for £802m
- Todd Boehly, co-owner of Chelsea FC, is considering entering the £550m auction for The Telegraph, potentially disrupting ongoing exclusive talks between US media executive David Efune and sellers.
- Warburg agrees to buy a 20% stake in UK’s United Trust Bank for about £520m.
- Landmark London office tower sale falls through on pricing deadlock, as Blackstone pulls out of talks after its owner Nuveen refused an offer of around £300m.
- Oxalis Logistics looks to buy specialised last-mile logistics companies in the fields of retail fuel transportation, aviation bridging, into-plane refuelling, bitumen, hydrogen and other gases with an EBIT above £0.4m, It is also looking for specialised logistics companies in the field of other liquid bulk transportation segments with an EBIT of over £1.25m to buy in Continental Europe
- Four bidders, including Domino’s Pizza, are circling to purchase fast-food chain Wingstop’s UK operation
- The FCA reported that signs of insider trading in the UK dropped to a five-year low in 2023, with suspicious trading detected before 3.3% of market sensitive announcements, despite occurring ahead of 30% of takeover announcements.
- JPMorgan’s dealmaking fees could swell by 45% in the fourth quarter as Wall Street investment banks expect a pick up in work going into 2025.
- Ashtead Group, a FTSE listed company, is moving its primary listing from London to New York.
- Unite the Union is urging that Pemberton Asset Management be removed from the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment scheme over how one of the companies it owns is treating workers.
- Rathbones is exploring a voluntary redundancy scheme as the UK wealth firm looks to trim headcount following its mega merger with Investec Wealth & Investment.
- McWin Capital is in talks to acquire Bakery Chain Gail’s
- Ex-SoftBank Rainmaker Akshay Naheta eyes stake sale in his stablecoin startup
- Bosch is nearing a deal to sell some of its security systems operations to private equity firm Triton Partners.
- Computershare Limited has agreed to acquire intake IR.
Salaries and bonuses
Job moves
- TSB names Banco Sabadell exec Marc Armengol as new CEO
- Deutsche Bank hires Lazard’s Kotzeva to lead European power, utilities and energy transition.
- HSBC chief executive Georges Elhedery has unveiled a raft of senior changes at the UK lender: Adam Bagshaw has been appointed global head of investment banking, Lisa McGeough has been promoted to head the bank’s US business, Gerry Keefe is now head of banking for Europe and the Americas, while Jo Miyake will lead the division in Asia and the Middle East.
- Fundsmith partner Will Morgan, one of Terry Smith’s most senior colleagues, exits after a seven-year stint.
- Eleven EY lawyers in London quit to join US law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth.
- David Rath and Oliver Seiler, two equity capital markets partners, who joined White & Case in Frankfurt from Latham & Watkins are rejoining their former firm.
Market Trends
Back in Gear: CMS European M&A Outlook 2025
A new report published by CMS and MergerMarket looks at dealmaking sentiment in Europe’s M&A market. It reveals that foreign direct investment (FDI) in Europe encountered challenges in 2023, with announced projects declining 4% from 2022 and remaining 11% below pre-pandemic figures. Contributing factors included geopolitical instability, rising energy costs, and competition from US policies like the Inflation Reduction Act.
In contrast, the UK experienced a 6% increase in FDI projects reaching 985, driven by Greater London’s 20% growth, which accounted for over a third of UK projects. This growth solidified the UK’s status as Europe’s second-leading FDI destination after France.
Investors highlighted the UK’s favorable corporate tax structure, skilled labor force, and stable legal framework as major attractions, while counterparty non-compliance emerged as the top risk for UK investments (17%).
US-Europe Cross-Border M&A dynamics
The CMS report also shows how US buyers are actively participating in European M&A, with 1,482 deals in 2023 completed and 726 announced in H1 2024. Despite a weaker dollar, US investors continue to find value in European assets, particularly in the UK, which led with 266 transatlantic deals in H1, far outpacing Germany’s 107.
Shared language, familiarity with the UK’s culture, and strong technology base make it a preferred choice, with nearly a third of US respondents citing cultural alignment as essential. Key sectors include TMT (278 deals), industrials and chemicals (102), and business services (98).
M&A “set for ‘sustained increase’ after Budget and Trump victory”
UK deal activity is expected to pick up in 2025, driven by improving political and economic landscape, including clarity following the UK Budget and Trump’s upcoming presidency. Although recent M&A volumes were affected by tax hikes, interest rate fluctuations, and Brexit uncertainties, experts are optimistic about a recovery as these challenges begin to subside.
Key factors driving this future rebound include lower interest rates, increased private equity deal-making as firms look to invest their capital, and the attractiveness of undervalued UK assets. Both corporate and private equity buyers are set to play vital roles, with tax planning before April 2025’s capital gains tax hike further stimulating activity.
Source: City AM
Are Europe’s stock prices a sign of what’s to come under Trump?
Analysis by Morning Star looks at how Trump’s policies could hit UK and European businesses in 2025. It already appears to be having a cooling effect on stocks, with US and European stocks on opposing paths since the election.
Who’s top of the dealmaker tree in 2024?
MergerMarket has published its dealmaker rankings for the first nine months of the year. It shows it’s been a bumper 2024 for Goldman Sachs, which replaced JP Morgan as the top dealmaker by value and also jumped up to second place for volume of deals.
Fundraising
- Starmer Plans Reform of Public Sector by launching a £100m fund aimed at helping the state run “more like a start up,” to Counter Criticism
- AlpInvest and Sixth Street are providing £742m in recapitalisation financing for Essential Pharma to support further acquisitions.
- Carlyle’s AlpInvest and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company are forming a new partnership to provide debt financing to private equity firms.
IPOs
- Ashstead Group plans to move its primary listing from London to the US.
- Canal+ has chosen to list in London, providing a boost to the UK market, which has struggled to recover from lows in listings activity.
