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Transactions UK
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July 24, 2024
London Tech Week Co. To Make £1.2B Bid For Lions Owner
British publisher and events company Informa PLC said Wednesday that it has offered to acquire exhibitions company Ascential PLC, which owns the Cannes Lions and Money20/20 brands, for approximately £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) to expand its business-to-business events space.
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July 24, 2024
Outsourcer Mitie Doubles Share Buyback To £100M
Mitie Group PLC said Wednesday that it will extend its current £50 million ($65 million) share buyback program to £100 million after it posted strong financial results and showed positive momentum.
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July 24, 2024
US, British PE Firms Make €2.2B Offer For Cybersecurity Biz
Cybersecurity firm Exclusive Networks said Wednesday that it has been handed a takeover offer of approximately €2.2 billion ($2.4 billion) from a consortium made up of U.S. private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice and its biggest shareholder, Permira.
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July 24, 2024
Grainger Acquires Manchester Real Estate For £31M
Grainger PLC said Wednesday it has bought 135 homes in a build-to-rent scheme in Manchester for £31 million ($40 million), as the U.K. property manager looks to bolster its high-quality apartment portfolio to meet growing demand.
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July 24, 2024
UniCredit To Buy Vodeno, Aion Bank For €370M
Italy's UniCredit said Wednesday that it will buy cloud-based digital banking services provider Vodeno and online bank Aion for approximately €370 million ($401 million) in total as a foray into new financial technology.
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July 24, 2024
Student Housing Biz Unite Raises £450M Through Share Sale
Unite said Wednesday that it has raised £450 million ($580 million) by selling new shares to institutional and retail investors to help the student housing manager fund its pipeline of properties.
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July 24, 2024
Vodafone, Spanish Co. Agree To Create Joint Fiber Biz
The owner of Vodafone's Spanish subsidiary said Wednesday that it has agreed to form a national fiber-optic network-sharing company in Spain with MasOrange SL to expand its presence in the country.
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July 23, 2024
Microsoft Calls FTC Price Hike Claims 'Misleading' At 9th Circ
Microsoft pushed back against the Federal Trade Commission's contention that an increase in the company's gaming subscription pricing is evidence of the anticompetitive effects of the software giant's $68.7 billion acquisition of game developer Activision Blizzard Inc., calling the commission out for trying to "reinvent" its case against the merger on appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
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July 23, 2024
US, UK, EU Antitrust Enforcers Outline AI Principles
The top antitrust officials from the U.S. Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission, the European Commission and the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority presented a unified international commitment Tuesday to closely monitor artificial intelligence technology and the companies that they warned could wield AI anticompetitively.
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July 23, 2024
Bosch To Buy Johnson Controls' Air Con Biz For $8.1B
German engineering and technology giant Bosch said Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire U.S. peer Johnson Controls' global residential and light commercial heating and cooling business, as well as its air conditioning joint venture with Hitachi for $8.1 billion.
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July 23, 2024
EU Urged To Give Finance Watchdogs More Powers
A financial trade body on Tuesday called on European Union legislators to give regulators the power to modernize financial markets and make them more globally competitive.
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July 23, 2024
Axway To Raise €131M To Fund €330M Banking Software Buy
Information technology company Axway said Tuesday that it is planning to raise approximately €131 million ($142 million) in equity as part of its €330 million acquisition of the banking software activities of Sopra Steria Group.
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July 23, 2024
Laundry Tech Biz Jensen Buys 85% Stake In Rival For €34M
Belgian laundry tech company Jensen said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy 85% of Maxi Press, which makes parts for washing machines and irons, for €34.3 million ($37.3 million), with the remaining 15% due to be purchased over a three-year period.
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July 23, 2024
Eni's Mobility Biz Unit Valued At €12.5B As KKR To Buy Stake
Private equity shop KKR will buy a minority stake in the sustainable mobility business of Eni SpA, the Italian supermajor oil company, in a deal that values the subsidiary at up to €12.5 billion ($13.6 billion), the companies said Tuesday.
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July 22, 2024
Royalty Co. Wins Bid To Confirm Award Against Utopia Music
A New York federal judge has granted a petition by the former owners of artist royalties company Lyric Financial LLC to confirm an arbitral award against Lyric's buyers, Utopia Music Holdings (US) Inc. and its Swiss parent, Utopia Music AG.
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July 22, 2024
Lending Biz CEO Says Director Forced Him To Transfer Shares
A solicitor has asked a court to unwind a share transfer that he allegedly made under duress to an ex-director and a lawyer with whom he was business, claiming that he had to make the transfer to quash a false fraud allegation.
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July 22, 2024
UK Ends DJ Equipment Merger Probe As Parties Ditch Deal
The antitrust regulator of the U.K. said Monday that it has canceled its probe into DJ equipment maker AlphaTheta's proposed acquisition of audio technology company Serato, after the audio entertainment companies abandoned the deal.
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July 22, 2024
Norton Rose, Akin Steer $900M LNG Biz Deal
Woodside said Monday it has agreed to buy Tellurian Inc., a liquefied natural gas developer in the U.S., for $900 million, with the Australian energy company saying that this will allow it to become a major player in the LNG business.
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July 22, 2024
Vodafone Raises Another €1.3B From German Towers Biz Sale
Telecommunications giant Vodafone Group PLC said Monday that it has raised another €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) from the 2022 sale of its German mobile phone tower operating company Vantage Towers.
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July 22, 2024
Latham-Guided PE Firm To Buy UK Property Biz For £600M
Hammerson PLC said Monday that it has agreed to sell retail management company to a vehicle owned by U.S. private equity firm L Catterton for £600 million ($775.6 million) to help the real estate developer pay back debt and make other investments.
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July 22, 2024
UK Eases Reporting Rules For Investment Stewardship
Britain's accounting watchdog unveiled changes to the U.K.'s stewardship code for investment on Monday that it said would help reduce the reporting burden for investors.
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July 22, 2024
Ascertus, Lawcadia Partner For Streamlined Legal Operations
Legal services provider Ascertus Ltd. said on Monday that it has entered a partnership with Australian technology company Lawcadia to provide management and workflow services to corporate clients.
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July 19, 2024
FTC Says Microsoft Price Hike Shows Activision Deal Harm
The Federal Trade Commission told the Ninth Circuit that Microsoft's recently announced Game Pass price increase is an example of the harm caused by the company's $68.7 billion acquisition of game developer Activision Blizzard Inc.
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July 19, 2024
Kirkland-Led Evolution Bets On Galaxy Gaming For $124M
Swedish betting company Evolution has said that it has agreed to acquire casino table games developer Galaxy Gaming Inc. for approximately $124 million, including debt, to cement its presence in the U.S. market in a deal guided by Kirkland and Latham.
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July 19, 2024
Nordic Care Services Provider Kicks Off $14M Share Buyback
Attendo said on Friday that it has launched a share buyback program worth up to 150 million Swedish kronor ($14 million) as the Nordic care services specialist seeks to raise money for possible acquisitions and reward investors.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
The FTC Needs To Challenge The Novo-Catalent Deal
Novo's acquisition of Catalent threatens to substantially lessen competition in the manufacturing and marketing of GLP-1 diabetes and obesity drugs, and the Federal Trade Commission should challenge it under a vertical theory of harm, as it aligns with last year's merger guidelines and the Fifth Circuit decision in Illumina, says attorney David Balto.
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Complying With EU Commission's Joint Purchasing Rules
One year after the European Commission released its revised guidelines on horizontal cooperation agreements, attorneys at Crowell & Moring reflect on the various forms such agreements can take, and how parties can avoid structuring arrangements that run afoul of competition law.
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Tips For Implementing EU Sustainability Reporting Guidance
Lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell discuss the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group’s recently published guidance on double materiality assessments and offer takeaways on achieving a sustainability directive-compliant process that could enhance clarity and consistency among multinational stakeholders.
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What UK Digital Markets Act Will Mean For Competition Law
The new Digital Markets Act’s reforms will strengthen the Competition and Markets Authority's investigatory and enforcement powers across its full remit of merger control and antitrust investigations, representing a seismic shift in the U.K. competition and consumer law landscape, say lawyers at Travers Smith.
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What French Watchdog Ruling Means For M&A Landscape
Although ultimately dismissed due to lack of evidence, the French competition authority’s recent post-closing review of several nonreportable mergers is a landmark case that highlights the increased complexity of such transactions, and is further testament to the European competition authorities’ willingness to expand their toolkit to address below-threshold M&As, say lawyers at Cleary.
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Exploring The EU's Draft Standards On Crypto Authorization
The European Securities and Markets Authority’s recently published draft standards aim to promote fair competition and a safer environment for crypto providers and investors, detailing precisely the information to be provided to national authorities in charge of screening the acquisitions of a qualifying holding, says Mathieu de Korvin at Norton Rose.
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What The New Digital Markets Bill Will Mean For Companies
The recently passed Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill will bring significant reform to U.K. merger control and antitrust rules for all businesses, but the introduction of a strategic market status regime and its reporting obligations means large tech organizations in particular need to think carefully about the forthcoming changes, say lawyers at Linklaters.
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Insurance Ruling Stresses High Hurdle To Fix Policy Wording
In Project Angel v. Axis, the Court of Appeal recently refused to rewrite the exclusion clause of an insurance policy, reminding parties in the warranty and indemnity market to carefully word clauses, as there is a high threshold before courts will intervene to amend policies, say Joseph Moore and Laura McCann at Travers Smith.
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CMA Reports Signal Tighter Scrutiny Of AI Model Markets
The Competition and Markets Authority’s recent reports on artificial intelligence foundation models suggest that competition in AI is not working as it should, so large digital firms can expect the regulator to use its full toolbox as it continues to monitor and investigate the sector, say lawyers at Cooley.
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How Gov't Response Addresses Investment Act Concerns
The government’s recently published response to a call for evidence on the National Security and Investment Act is largely appropriate to stakeholder concerns raised and demonstrates in its five areas of focus that it is willing to respond to live issues, say lawyers at Watson Farley.
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Pharma Remains A Key Focus Of EU Antitrust Enforcement
The recently published European Commission report on pharmaceutical sector competition law illustrates that effective enforcement of EU rules remains a matter of high priority for EU and national authorities, say lawyers at Dechert.
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The Dangers Of Providing Misleading Info In A Merger Review
Although Kingspan's recent proposed acquisition of Trimo, brought before the European Commission, was abandoned following investigation for an alleged breach of EU Merger Regulation requirements, it has brought to light the importance of submitting accurate and complete information in merger reviews to avoid incurring a substantial fine, say lawyers at Steptoe.
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Cum-Ex Prosecutions Storm Shows No Sign Of Abating
The ongoing trial of Sanjay Shah in Denmark is a clear indicator that efforts remain focused on holding to account the alleged architects and beneficiaries of cum-ex trading, and with these prosecutions making their way across Europe, it is a more turbulent time now than ever, says Niall Hearty at Rahman Ravelli.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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EU Inquiry Offers First Insight Into Foreign Subsidy Law
The European Commission's first in-depth investigation under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation into a public procurement process, and subsequent brief on regulatory trends, sheds light on the commission's approach to such cases, as well as jurisdictional, procedural and substantive issues under the regulation, says Matthew Hall at McGuireWoods.