Online broker eToro has agreed to go public at a $10.4bn valuation by merging with Fintech Acquisition Corp V, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) set up by banking veteran Betsy Cohen, in one of the largest SPAC deals so far this year. The Israeli stockbroking and spread betting platform […]
With my time as CIBS Research Group Director coming to an end, I thought the most fitting way to write my last article would be to reflect back on my first. 2021 has marked the busiest-ever start to a year for M&A activity in China, with a record pace of […]
As organisations continue to transition to online working and shift towards cloud computing, it is imperative to invest in robust identity verification systems to help protect against cyber attacks. It is no wonder, then, that the total addressable market for cyber identity management is estimated to be $55bn. On March […]
Last month, Atlas Crest Investment Corp., chaired by founder of Moelis & Company Ken Moelis, agreed to merge with electric aircraft company Archer Aviation, in a deal that values the company at around $3.8bn. Despite Archer having not generated any revenues or created a commercially viable product as of yet, […]
On February 11th 2021, Kraft Heinz agreed to sell its Planters peanuts and snacks business to rival Hormel Foods, owner of Spam, for $3.35bn in an all-cash deal. The transaction, expected to close in the first half of this year, follows Kraft Heinz’s $3.2bn sale of its cheese business to […]
Billionaire Tilman Fertitta is taking his restaurant and casino empire public by merging with Fast Acquisition Corp, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that raised $200m in its IPO in August 2020, taking advantage of recent investor enthusiasm for SPAC deals. After a difficult period for the company due to […]
On February 1st 2021, private space enterprise Astra announced its merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Holicity. The deal, which values Astra at $2.1bn, aims to see the company go public in Q2 of 2021 and represents a raise of $500m in capital for the space enterprise. The company […]
On 23rd April 2020, the CMA, a government regulatory body charged with promoting domestic competition, announced their approval of the prospective £6.2 billion merger of Just Eat and Takeaway.com. Following the exit of Takeaway.com from the UK online food delivery market in 2016, the CMA concluded the firm would be unlikely to re-enter […]
To cap off an extraordinary year for businesses worldwide, Salesforce has officially announced on the 1st of December, 2020 that it would be acquiring collaboration software developer Slack for $27.7 billion USD. This acquisition would go down as the second largest software transaction in history, the price of which represents […]
On 14th December 2020, AstraZeneca has agreed to acquire one of the biotech giants, Alexion, for $39 billion in cash and stock. The offer price was $175 per share with a 45% premium on top of its last trading price. AstraZeneca, the acquirer, is a red-hot global pharmaceutical company with its […]
On November 30 2020, financial data provider S&P Global decided to buy financial analytics company IHS Markit for $44bn. The deal will create a financial data and analytics giant, well-positioned to compete with Bloomberg — the current market-leader in the financial data provider space. The takeover follows a series of […]
This month, Canada’s Intact Financial and Denmark’s Tryg made a joint bid to acquire RSA, a 300-year-old UK insurance firm, for £7.2bn. The deal follows a growing trend towards UK insurers being bought by overseas rivals; Finnish insurer Sampo and South Africa’s Rand Merchant acquired Hastings this year for £1.7bn. […]
Virtual healthcare provider Teladoc Health has acquired Livongo, a technology company which collects patient data to advise upon personal management of chronic illnesses, for $18.5bn, in one of the most prominent deals over the height of the global pandemic. Announced on August 5th, the deal was completed by the end […]
Despite acquiring Reebok over a decade ago, Adidas are still struggling to make the gains from the brand it desired, leading to the consideration of a potential sale of the subsidiary. Shares of Adidas rose 1.9% on Thursday, due to multiple reports of the German footwear brand exploring the possibility […]
The large German-based automotive group, Daimler AG, recently increased its stake in the iconic British luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin Lagonda to 20%. Today we take a look under the hood of the deal, investigating the background and motivation, and discerning what the two companies realistically are set to gain, […]
Given the recent crash in oil prices this April, it may come as a surprise that on October 19th, ConocoPhillips — the world’s largest independent oil producer — decided to acquire Concho Resources, a US shale oil producer, in a deal worth $9.7bn. However, it could be argued that consolidation […]
Introduction Morgan Stanley has acquired midsize American investment management firm Eaton Vance in a deal worth $7bn, adding a further $500m of assets under management (AUM) to Morgan Stanley’s Investment Management arm, almost doubling its current AUM to a new total of $1.2trn. The Deal This $7bn deal is another […]
This August marked a significant landmark for the UK’s fastest-growing affordable sportswear brand Gymshark, receiving a valuation of over £1bn for the first time — a significant milestone which catapults Gymshark into joining just less than 25 British companies with “Unicorn” status. Being very much a millennial-targeted brand, Gymshark is […]
ByteDance has reached a preliminary “technical partnership” agreement with Oracle for the US operations of TikTok. Oracle announced it had brokered the deal on September 14th, with plans to address US national security concerns over Chinese ownership of TikTok. These developments follow a prolonged bidding process which saw Oracle face […]
In November 2019, LVMH (owned by Bernard Arnault) agreed to purchase the iconic U.S. jewellery brand Tiffany, a deal that seemed a match made in heaven. However, then the coronavirus pandemic hit, stalling the purchase of luxury goods, and massively affecting Tiffany. LVMH was led to feel uncertain about the […]
Spanish lenders Bankia and CaixaBank have recently been involved in merger talks, with a proposed €17bn all-share merger set to be the largest in the financial sector for years. This proposed merger would result in a new entity with a combined market capitalisation of €16.6bn. Investors reacted optimistically to the […]
With deal flow picking up following a COVID-induced lull, Blackstone is buying genealogical research firm Ancestry.com in a $4.7bn secondary buyout. This marks the private equity firm’s first control acquisition through its eighth flagship private equity fund and comes at a time when a number of consumers have been looking […]
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has recently acquired DW (Dave Whelan) Sports after the company collapsed into administration earlier this month after the lockdown completely wiped out its income. Frasers have paid £37m for 46 fitness clubs and 31 retail outlets, having only purchased certain parts of the business, not buying […]
Introduction Advent International, a US-based private equity firm, will acquire the majority of Hermes’s operations in the UK, as well as a smaller stake of Hermes’s German business, from German mail group and e-commerce company Otto Group in a €1 billion deal. This comes as the surge in demand in […]
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