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Transactions UK
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July 26, 2024
Taxation With Representation: Wachtell, Polsinelli, Kirkland
In this week's Taxation With Representation, T-Mobile partners with KKR to acquire Metronet, Exclusive Networks gets a takeover offer, KKR buys Instructure Holdings Inc., and Bally's Corp. merges with The Queen Casino & Entertainment Inc.
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July 26, 2024
Linklaters Lights National Grid's £700M Sale Of Gas Stake
National Grid PLC on Friday confirmed it will sell its remaining 20% holding in the British gas network for approximately £700 million ($901 million) to a consortium of infrastructure investors, a deal advised by Linklaters LLP and White & Case LLP.
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July 26, 2024
Ellex-Led ERGO To Buy €80M Baltic Biz Of European Insurer
European insurance heavyweight ERGO Group has agreed to acquire Norwegian nonlife insurer Gjensidige Forsikring ASA's Lithuania-based subsidiary ADB Gjensidige for €80 million ($87 million).
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July 26, 2024
Linklaters-Led Masdar To Buy Spanish Solar Stake For €817M
Spanish multinational electric utility company Endesa said Friday that it has agreed to sell nearly half of its solar installations in Spain to Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co. for €817 million ($887 million), in a deal guided by Linklaters LLP and Ashurst LLP.
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July 26, 2024
Valderrama Golf Course Owner Heir Blocked From Sale Profits
The heir to the former owner of the Valderrama golf course in Spain lost his fight Friday for a slice of a €39.1 million ($42.5 million) sale as an appellate court rejected his interpretation of a profit-sharing agreement.
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July 26, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen U.K. band The 1975 face action by Future Sound Asia after its performance in Malaysia resulted in a festival's cancelation, Spectrum Insurance hit by The Motoring Organization following their dispute over information misuse, and a former police constable pursue defamation against a colleague for allegedly instigating a campaign of harassment against her. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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July 26, 2024
Engineering Firm IMI Announces £100M Share Buyback
IMI PLC on Friday unveiled a £100 million ($129 million) share repurchase program and proposed a dividend boost as the British engineering firm reported improved profits.
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July 26, 2024
Legal Services Biz To Buy UK Regional Law Firm For £12.5M
Knights Group Holdings PLC said Friday that it has agreed to buy Thursfields Legal Ltd., an independent, full-service regional law firm, for £12.5 million ($16.1 million), as the growing legal and professional services company moves to expand its presence in central England.
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July 26, 2024
NatWest To Buy £2.5B Mortgage Portfolio From Metro Bank
NatWest will acquire a £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) portfolio of U.K. residential mortgages from Metro Bank as it seeks to expand its retail book without taking on unnecessary risk, the lenders said on Friday.
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July 25, 2024
Deals Rumor Mill: Wiz-Google, Daily Telegraph, Medline IPO
Cybersecurity startup Wiz has rebuffed a buyout offer from Google, former British finance minister Nadhim Zahawi is preparing a $773 million bid for the Daily Telegraph, and medical supplies giant Medline is preparing an initial public offering for 2025. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.
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July 25, 2024
Audit Watchdog Sanctioned Firms £48M Last Year
The Financial Reporting Council revealed Thursday that it fined firms a total of £48.2 million ($62 million) in the financial year ended March 31, including a £21 million fine against auditor KPMG related to its accounting for construction giant Carillion prior to its collapse in 2018.
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July 25, 2024
Fintech Co. To Return £150M To Shareholders With Buyback
Global fintech company IG Group said Thursday that it will buy back up to £150 million ($193 million) of its shares over the next six months to return excess cash to its shareholders.
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July 25, 2024
BAE Systems' First Tranche Of £1.5B Buyback Takes Off
BAE Systems PLC on Thursday launched the first part of a new share repurchase program worth up to £1.5 billion ($1.9 billion) that the arms and aerospace giant said is aimed at lowering its outstanding share capital.
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July 25, 2024
Indivior Announces $100M Buyback To Trim Market Capital
Addiction treatment company Indivior PLC said Thursday that it plans to return $100 million to its shareholders in its latest share buyback program over the next six months to reduce the number of its shares in the market.
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July 25, 2024
Bird & Bird-Led Comms Biz Buys Rival For Up To £13M
Gamma Communications PLC said Thursday that it has bought call center technology specialist BrightCloud Group Ltd. in a transaction worth up to £13 million ($17 million), as the telecommunication services provider looks toward expansion in Europe.
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July 25, 2024
FCA Consumer Duty Deadline May Spark Clash With UK Gov't
The new Labour government and the Financial Conduct Authority could be heading for a clash over what constitutes a vulnerable consumer and how the laws protecting them from abuse should be enforced.
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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.
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.