Corporate news, updates and analysis | Page 4 of 22

The deal market continues to be a product of the coronavirus environment, with the rescue buyout of Gourmet Burger Kitchen dominating headlines as the pandemic devastates the UK’s high street.

Elsewhere, I Squared Capital’s $2bn acquisition of GTT Communications’ infrastructure business is the latest to illustrate the attractiveness of telecoms assets at a time when connectivity is more essential than ever.  Continue reading “Dealwatch: Links and Goodwin gain bandwidth on $2bn telecoms carve-out as Eversheds and DLA relish Gourmet Burger Kitchen rescue “

Whatever concerns City playmakers had about a coronavirus-related hiatus for big-ticket M&A in recent months appear to be well and truly allayed in the last few days, with the £6.8bn takeover of supermarket giant Asda capping off a prolific week.

Slaughter and May, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Latham & Watkins won roles on the Asda deal, which sees the Issa brothers – founders and co-CEOs of UK petrol station retailer EG Group – and TDR Capital acquire a majority stake in the UK business of Asda Group from US parent Walmart for an enterprise value of £6.8bn. Continue reading “Dealwatch: Big M&A back on track as private equity backs Asda supermarket sweep and William Hill buyout”

Standing out as one of the biggest mandates for external advisers in recent weeks, NVIDIA’s $40bn acquisition of Arm Limited from SoftBank kept transatlantic teams from Latham & Watkins and Morrison & Foerster on their toes in the artificial intelligence arena.

The deal sees California-based tech multinational NVIDIA acquire the Cambridge-headquartered AI company Arm from SoftBank Group and SoftBank Vision Fund in a cash and stock transaction. SoftBank will own a stake in NVIDIA of less than 10%.  Continue reading “Dealwatch: Tech going gangbusters as elite firms line up $40bn SoftBank buyout and Klarna equity raise”

Dealmakers have been Zoom-toasting a raft of strategic buyouts this week, with the software sector proving one of the most resilient amid the coronavirus crisis, demonstrated by Aveva’s $5bn acquisition of OSIsoft and Hg’s investment in Visma.

London-listed industrial software giant Aveva Group’s $5bn buyout of California-headquartered data software company OSIsoft stood firm as an example of sector resilience, fielding teams from Ashurst, Debevoise & Plimpton,  Latham & Watkins, Slaughter and May and Fenwick & West on this transformational deal. Continue reading “Dealwatch: Software sector proves bullish against Covid turmoil as elite firms line up on big-ticket buyouts”

Another prolific week in the deal world has seen US advisers dominate on an eclectic mix of transactions driven largely – and for different reasons – by the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Advent’s €1bn investment in the UK and German businesses of delivery company Hermes, Bayer’s acquisition of KaNDy Therapeutics, the restructuring of cash forex provider Travelex and Stormlight’s investment in Swansea City FC have all assuaged fears of a market slowdown. Continue reading “Dealwatch: US firms take lead in quartet of Covid-driven transactions as bounceback continues”

Difficult as it may be to imagine an upside amid a pandemic, clients have proved surprisingly resourceful in the face of adversity, handing corporate advisers on both sides of the pond opportune mandates in the past week.

CPA Global’s investment in New York-listed analytics business Clarivate was particularly notable, not least because of the $6.8bn enterprise value it gave the company.  Continue reading “Dealwatch: Sign of the times as elite firms tap into $6.8bn IP deal, beleaguered restaurants buyout and oligarch asset disposal”

Dealmakers could almost be forgiven for asking ‘what crisis?’ lately as a raft of recent major deals, including Centrica’s $3.6bn sale of its US energy business and Adevinta’s $9.2bn acquisition of eBay’s classifieds business, have kept Global 100 lawyers on their toes during lockdown. 

These major transactions, along with a raft of private equity deals involving Silver Lake, have kept international playmakers inundated during what, by rights, should have been a less than optimistic period.  Continue reading “Dealwatch: ‘glass half-full’ as Global 100 leaders line up on Centrica and eBay disposals”