Transactions UK

  • May 29, 2025

    Shell To Boost Stake In Nigerian Oilfield With $510M Deal

    Energy giant Shell PLC said Thursday that a subsidiary has agreed to pay $510 million to acquire an extra 12.5% stake in an oilfield off Nigeria's coast from a subsidiary of French rival TotalEnergies SE.

  • May 28, 2025

    In Volatile World, PE Attys Guide Complex Take-Private Deals

    As rising geopolitical tensions and tariff uncertainty continue to rattle dealmaking markets, attorneys are guiding private equity firms and potential take-private targets through increasingly complex negotiations.

  • May 28, 2025

    Investor Raises Ricardo Stake, Calls Again For Chair's Ouster

    Science Group said Wednesday it has increased its stake in technology consultancy Ricardo to 21.8% and reiterated its call for the removal of the firm's chair at the company's upcoming meeting, to be held at the offices of Ashurst LLP.

  • May 28, 2025

    UniCredit To Double Stake In Greek Bank Alpha To 20%

    UniCredit said on Wednesday that it has arranged to more than double its holding in the owner of major Greek lender Alpha to approximately 20%.

  • May 28, 2025

    SPAC Seed Capital Eyes AI Meditech Biz With £33M Deal

    U.K. SPAC Seed Capital said Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire Cuarta Dimensión Médica SL, a Spanish healthcare technology company, in an all-share transaction worth £33.3 million ($45 million), as it looks to expand in the growing sector.

  • May 28, 2025

    Baker McKenzie-Led Rentokil To Sell Workwear Biz For €410M

    Rentokil Initial PLC said Wednesday that it has agreed to sell its workwear business in France to global alternative investment firm HIG Capital for approximately €410 million ($463 million) to strengthen its position as the leading pest control and hygiene business.

  • May 28, 2025

    DLA Piper Steers Aviva's £270M Morrisons Pension Deal

    Aviva said on Wednesday that it has taken on £270 million ($364 million) worth of pension plan liabilities from a retirement fund sponsored by supermarket giant Morrisons.

  • May 28, 2025

    Thames Water Fined Record £123M Over Sewage, Dividends

    Thames Water was fined £122.7 million ($165.8 million) on Wednesday by the water regulator for breaching rules governing its failed wastewater management and unjustified payment of dividends — the latest upset for the beleaguered utility company.

  • May 28, 2025

    Tycoon Křetínský To Sweep Up Remaining Royal Mail Shares

    The remaining shareholders in Royal Mail's parent company must now sell their stakes to a conglomerate controlled by Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský after more than 90% agreed to the offer, the participants in the transaction said in a joint statement Wednesday.

  • May 27, 2025

    Railpen Sells Pension Administration Arm To Broadstone

    British pensions adviser and administrator Railpen said it has sold its third-party pension administration business to financial services consultancy Broadstone.

  • May 27, 2025

    Cobalt Prices Shares In $230M IPO To Kick-Start UK Market

    Metals investor Cobalt Holdings PLC said Tuesday that it plans to sell 90 million new shares for $2.56 each as part of its proposed float, kick-starting the London initial public offering market after the turmoil caused by U.S. tariffs.

  • May 27, 2025

    M&C Saatchi Announces Acquisition Of UAE Sports Agency

    M&C Saatchi said Tuesday it has inked a deal to acquire Dune 23, a sports agency in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, in a move expected to further enhance its business in the Middle East.

  • June 03, 2025

    M&A Rainmaker Returns To A&O Shearman From Skadden

    Allen Overy Shearman Sterling has rehired a prominent dealmaker as a partner, as the London-based firm moves to strengthen its transatlantic mergers and acquisitions team.

  • May 27, 2025

    A&O Shearman-Led Elementis Sells Talc Biz For $121M

    Chemicals maker Elementis said Tuesday that it has sold its Talc business to global talc manufacturer IMI Fabi for $121 million and unveiled plans to launch a $50 million buyback program to reflect its "strong confidence in the streamlined group's prospects."

  • May 27, 2025

    Slaughter And May-Led Bain Invests £120M In UK Finance Biz

    U.S. investment business Bain Capital has taken a stake worth nearly 30% in The Openwork Partnership for £120 million ($163 million) after winning backing from the City watchdog, the British financial adviser said Tuesday.

  • May 27, 2025

    Energy Biz DCC To Cut Share Capital With £100M Buyback

    DCC PLC said Tuesday that it has launched a share repurchase program worth up to £100 million ($135 million), part of a broader £800 million capital returns plan that the energy sales, marketing and distribution company expects will lower its share capital.

  • May 27, 2025

    Energy Consultancy Backs PE Firm's 'Superior' £129M Bid

    Energy and sustainability consultancy Inspired PLC said Tuesday that it intends to back a "superior" takeover bid of £129 million ($175 million) tabled by private equity firm HGGC after rejecting a "wholly inadequate" £109 million offer from Regent International, a gas and metering services business.

  • May 27, 2025

    Serco Completes $327M Northrop Defense Biz Deal

    British conglomerate Serco Group PLC said Tuesday that its U.S. subsidiary has finalized the acquisition of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s mission training and satellite communications business, known as MT&S, for $327 million after winning regulatory approval.

  • May 23, 2025

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

    This past week in London has seen Nestlé hit with an intellectual property claim by a pet insurance company, VTB Capital bring a breach of contract lawsuit against J.P. Morgan Securities, and Société Générale's former chief executive face litigation from an Italian entrepreneur.

  • May 23, 2025

    FTC Finally Drops Challenge To Microsoft-Activision Deal

    The Federal Trade Commission has dropped its in-house case seeking to block Microsoft's $68.7 billion purchase of video game developer Activision Blizzard, after its Ninth Circuit loss earlier this month, ending a lingering challenge to a deal that closed in late 2023.

  • May 23, 2025

    BMS Group Strengthens Presence In Turkey With Oria Deal

    Independent insurance and reinsurance broker BMS Group has acquired insurance broker Oria of Turkey to cement its position in the Turkish market and expand its network in the region.

  • May 23, 2025

    Pension Admin Staff Threaten Strike Over Capita Takeover

    A union for public sector workers said Friday that it is balloting members for strike action after it claimed it was locked out of negotiations ahead of a takeover of the administration of civil service pensions by professional services company Capita.

  • May 23, 2025

    Biotech Company Benchmark Eyes AIM Exit, £57M Buyback

    Benchmark Holdings PLC on Friday announced plans to quit trading platforms in Britain and Norway, citing issues such as regulation, and also reward investors with a stock repurchase plan worth up to approximately £56.7 million ($76.5 million).

  • May 23, 2025

    Blackstone Backs Davies With £275M For Global Expansion

    U.K. insurance professional services group Davies said Blackstone's credit and coverage business has injected £275 million ($371.5 million) into the company to fund its ongoing global acquisition spree.

  • May 23, 2025

    Nationwide To Merge Virgin Money, Clydesdale Bank Boards

    Nationwide Building Society said Friday it has changed course and will now combine the boards of Virgin Money and Clydesdale Bank to simplify the business, nearly nine months after its £2.9 billion ($3.9 billion) acquisition of Virgin completed.

Expert Analysis

  • What Lawyers Can Learn From FDI Screening Report Findings

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    The recent European Commission report on the screening of foreign direct investments into the EU reveals how member states need to balance national security concerns with openness, and with more cross-border transactions subject to screening, lawyers must be alert to jurisdictional variances, says Jonathon Gunn at Faegre Drinker.

  • UK Review May Lead To Lower Investment Screening Burden

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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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