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In a much-talked-about piece in the New York Times recently, Hernan Cristerna, Co-Head of Global M&A at JP Morgan Chase, diagnosed the global mergers and acquisitions market as alive and very much kicking – in spite of ongoing Brexit anxieties and considerable political uncertainty around the Trump administration. Cross-border European-US transactions have already increased by over 80% this year, with some truly blockbuster deals counting among them such as Johnson & Johnson’s… Read More
French rental car company, Europcar has made its fourth acquisition of the year in the form of Europe’s largest low-cost car rental agency, Goldcar. Europcar announced in December that it was looking to spend up to €500 million on franchised companies, car sharing services or local rivals within the car rental sector in order to achieve its ambitious growth targets and remain competitive. Caroline Parot, Europcar chief executive, commented that the acquisition… Read More
Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has given the go-ahead for the £11 billion merger of Scotland-based asset management companies Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management. Stating that it had decided not to refer the merger to a second phase in-depth investigation, the CMA has made way for the formation of Europe’s second largest fund manager and a global top 25 player, with £660 billion assets under management. The CMA began a… Read More
Following our report last month on the $130bn mega-merger between US chemical giants Dow Chemical and DuPont, a new deal has announced the creation of a chemicals giant with a market value of approx $14 billion. This latest high-profile transaction across the diversified chemicals sector sees companies are striking ever more aggressive deals to find new ways to slash costs and gain greater scale of their segments, typifying the current market trend… Read More
After several weeks of speculation, it has been announced that global lab testing specialist Exova has accepted an all-cash takeover from its industry rival Element Materials Technology Group. The deal, worth a reported £620 million, will see Element pay £2.40 per share to all investors in Exova. This represents a 10.7 per cent premium to the stock’s closing price on March 24 before Exova entered into discussions with potential buyers. It was… Read More
Despite major political disruption from events such as Britain leaving the EU and the election of a new president of the United States, 2016 is gearing up to be the biggest year for M&A deal announcements since 2007. According to the Intralinks Deal Flow Predictor, which has a proven track record for accuracy, there will be a three per cent increase in the total number of M&A deals to be announced globally… Read More
The night-time economy is a recognised driver of growth across Europe and the U.S. and global cities like New York and London play host to some of the world’s most popular DJs and artists after-hours, throughout the year. Further afield, the Spanish Island of Ibiza is one of the most popular seasonal destinations and over the decades has seen rapid expansion of the business arms of some of its most recognisable brands…. Read More