Transactions UK

  • September 25, 2024

    Wholesaler Kitwave Raises £31.5M To Fund Takeover Deal

    North England-based Kitwave Group PLC said Wednesday it has successfully raised about £31.5 million ($42.2 million) by issuing shares to investors, funds it will channel toward its acquisition of a food wholesaler in the South for up to £70 million.

  • September 25, 2024

    UniCredit To Base Bigger Commerzbank Stake On Benefits

    The chief executive of UniCredit said Wednesday that his Italian bank is considering a further increase to its 21% stake in Commerzbank but would take the step only on terms that are beneficial for shareholders and clients of both lenders. 

  • September 25, 2024

    Jones Day Leads Orange Telecoms On Exit From NYSE Listing

    French telecommunications giant Orange SA said Wednesday that it plans to quit the New York Stock Exchange, citing the "significant financial and administrative requirements" of the listing.

  • September 25, 2024

    Property Investment Trust Buys £78M UK Logistics Portfolio

    Real estate investment trust LondonMetric Property PLC said on Wednesday that it has bought six warehouses for £78 million ($104 million) from a pension fund listed on the London Stock Exchange.

  • September 24, 2024

    Everton Finds New Buyer In US Billionaire

    The company controlled by U.S. billionaire businessman Dan Friedkin has agreed to take a majority stake in Everton Football Club in a move that comes after a prior Everton sale fell through amid legal troubles for the buyer.

  • September 24, 2024

    Reckitt To Launch 2nd £250M Tranche Of £1B Buyback

    Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC on Tuesday said it expects to soon roll out an up to £250 million ($355 million) share repurchase scheme, the second part of the consumer goods giant's program aimed at downsizing its share capital.

  • September 24, 2024

    Chemicals Biz Begins 2nd £125M Tranche Of £250M Buyback

    Chemicals and sustainable technology company Johnson Matthey said Tuesday that it will buy £125 million ($167 million) of its shares in the second tranche of a £250 million share buyback program to reduce the number of its shares in the market.

  • September 24, 2024

    Smiths Group To Buy 2 North American Cos. For £110M

    Industrial technology company Smiths Group PLC said Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire a Canadian electrical heating business and a U.S. metal and flexible ducting manufacturer for a total of £110 million ($147 million), expanding its footprint in North America.

  • September 24, 2024

    Shoosmiths Steers Medical Business On £21M Tender Offer

    Niox Group PLC, advised by Shoosmiths LLP, on Tuesday proposed to buy back shares worth up to £21 million as the asthma testing device maker looks to reward investors after reporting increased revenue.

  • September 24, 2024

    Linklaters-Led Gulf Energy Biz To Buy Enviro Co. For $1.4B

    Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co. PJSC said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy green energy company Saeta Yield SA from Brookfield Renewable Partners LP of Canada for $1.4 billion, to strengthen its presence in Spain and Portugal. 

  • September 24, 2024

    Pension Trustees Urged To Look At Insurers' Carbon Targets

    Trustees of retirement savings plans should look at how well insurers perform against their interim carbon-reduction targets when they choose a partner for a bulk annuities transaction, a consultancy has said.

  • September 24, 2024

    Nasdaq, Deutsche Boerse Targeted In EU Antitrust Raids

    Nasdaq and Deutsche Boerse said Tuesday that they are among the financial services firms being investigated by the European Commission over alleged violations of EU competition laws in derivatives trading.

  • September 24, 2024

    Eversheds Sutherland-Led REIT In £147M Bid For Mall Owner

    NewRiver REIT said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy Capital & Regional PLC, a shopping mall owner, for £147 million ($197 million) as it aims to benefit from rental growth in the sector.

  • September 24, 2024

    Swisscom's €8B Vodafone Italia Deal Gets EU Clearance

    Swisscom AG said Tuesday that Europe's competition authority has cleared its proposed €8 billion ($8.9 billion) acquisition of Vodafone Group PLC's Italian business under the bloc's foreign subsidies rules.

  • September 23, 2024

    RSV Vaccine Biz Secures $100M For Series B Funding Round

    Biopharmaceutical company Vicebio Ltd. on Monday announced that it secured its Series B funding round after securing $100 million led by science-focused investment firm TCGX.

  • September 23, 2024

    German Biotech Biz Aims For €132.7M Valuation In IPO

    German biotech company Pentixapharm said Monday that it is set to launch an initial public offering valued at approximately €23.4 million ($26 million) on the Frankfurt stock exchange on Tuesday at a valuation of up to €132.7 million.

  • September 23, 2024

    Analytics Firm GlobalData Launches £20M Share Buyback

    GlobalData PLC said on Monday that it has kicked off a share buyback program worth up to £20 million ($27 million) to reward investors and cut down the size of its share capital.

  • September 23, 2024

    Baltic Fintech Eleving To Raise Up To €30M In IPO

    European financial technology company Eleving Group said Monday that it is looking to raise up to €30 million ($33.3 million) in its initial public offerings in Germany and Latvia to continue its global expansion in new and existing markets.

  • September 23, 2024

    UniCredit Boosts Commerzbank Stake To 21%, Eyes More

    Italian lender UniCredit said Monday that it has boosted its stake in German rival Commerzbank from 9% to 21% and is eyeing further investment as it appeared to be laying the groundwork for a possible full takeover.

  • September 23, 2024

    Finance Sector Seeks Regulatory Clarity As Challenges Loom

    The financial services sector is pushing for clearer regulations on artificial intelligence and environmental, social and governance criteria, according to research by global law firm DLA Piper.

  • September 23, 2024

    Clifford Chance-Led BNP To Buy HSBC Unit In Germany

    BNP Paribas SA said Monday that it has agreed to buy HSBC's private banking unit in Germany as part of its plans to expand its wealth management arm in a "key strategic market."

  • September 23, 2024

    Springer Nature Aims For €4.7B Valuation In German IPO

    German-British journal publisher Springer Nature said Monday that it is shooting for a €4.7 billion ($5.2 billion) valuation for its forthcoming initial public offering in Frankfurt.

  • September 23, 2024

    Murdoch's REA Makes Higher £6.1B Offer For UK Property Biz

    Rupert Murdoch's Australian online real estate advertising company said Monday that it has made a sweetened proposed offer of £6.1 billion ($8.1 billion) for Rightmove PLC after the British property business rejected two earlier bids.

  • September 20, 2024

    BNP Paribas Plugging $5B Into Apollo-Backed Atlas

    Private equity giant Apollo and its Atlas SP Partners platform, both advised by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, on Friday unveiled a strategic partnership with European Union bank BNP Paribas, led by Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP, that will see the global bank plugging an initial $5 billion investment into the collaboration.

  • September 20, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    The past week in London has seen crypto exchange Binance face a new claim from the co-founder of SO Legal, a U.S. immersive art company take on a Bristol venue for copyright violations and Blake Morgan LLP hit with a pension schemes claim by The Trust for Welsh Archeology. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

Expert Analysis

  • UK Review May Lead To Lower Investment Screening Burden

    Author Photo

    The government’s current review of national security investment screening rules aims to refine the scope of mandatory notifications required for unproblematic deals, and is likely to result in much-needed modifications to minimize the administrative burden on businesses and investors, say lawyers at Simpson Thacher.

  • Tools M&A Deal Makers Can Use To Bridge Valuation Gaps

    Author Photo

    As macroeconomic headwinds reset valuation expectations, parties to merger and acquisition are increasingly looking to methods such as earnouts, vendor financing and minority transactions to bridge the valuation gap and get deals done, says Philip Herbst at Cleary.

  • Takeaways From The CMA's Green Collaboration Guidance

    Author Photo

    Recently published Competition and Markets Authority guidance on the application of competition law to environmental sustainability agreements should remove barriers for businesses that want to collaborate on environmental sustainability without breaking the law, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • What The Anti-Coercion Instrument Will Bring To The EU

    Author Photo

    Vassilis Akritidis and Jean-Baptiste Blancardi at Crowell & Moring discuss why the European Union recently adopted a report on the anti-coercion instrument to reform its trade legislation, how the instrument will be used to respond to unfair economic pressure from third countries, and how businesses can impact the EU's decision making.

  • CMA Report On AI May Lead to Greater Competition Control

    Author Photo

    The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority’s recent report on artificial intelligence foundation models is a sign that developers could face increased merger control and antitrust enforcement, and businesses should be mindful of these views to ensure that their models do not come under investigation, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Recent Trends In European ESG-Related Shareholder Activism

    Author Photo

    New ESG reporting standards in the European Union, as well as recent climate change, board diversity and human rights cases, illustrate how shareholder activism may become more prominent in years to come as regulation and investor engagement continues to strengthen, say lawyers at Debevoise.

  • Employer Due Diligence Lessons From Share Scheme Case

    Author Photo

    The Scottish Court of Session recently confirmed in Ponticelli v. Gallagher that the right to participate in a share incentive plan transfers to the transferee, highlighting the importance for transferee employers to conduct comprehensive due diligence when acquiring workforce, including on arrangements outside the employment contract's scope, say lawyers at McDermott.

  • 4 Compliance Considerations Under FCA Consumer Duty

    Author Photo

    Following the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority's recent introduction of the new consumer duty regime, firms will need to be mindful of data protection implications when managing their compliance with the duty and data protection legislation, say lawyers at Bird & Bird.

  • How The UK Investment Screening Regime Is Taking Shape

    Author Photo

    A recent order imposing remedies on an acquisition by EDF Energy highlights emerging trends in the U.K. government's national security reviews of transactions under the U.K. National Security and Investment Act, and shows how the U.K. remedy landscape compares to the U.S. regime, say lawyers at Arnold & Porter.

  • EU Antitrust Rules Set To Pose Challenges To US Businesses

    Author Photo

    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.

  • German Competition Law May Herald New Enforcement Trend

    Author Photo

    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.

  • How The OECD Global Tax Proposal Could Affect M&A

    Author Photo

    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.

  • A Look At German And French Merger Control Trends In 2023

    Author Photo

    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.

  • UK Shares-Tax Proposals Offer Long-Awaited Modernization

    Author Photo

    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.

  • EU Illumina-Grail Fine Cools Cos.' Merger Control Approach

    Author Photo

    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.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Transactions UK archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!