Transactions UK

  • February 11, 2025

    Fieldfisher, Ogier Guide Lithium Explorer On £2.4M Fundraise

    CleanTech Lithium PLC, an explorer and developer focused on lithium projects, said Tuesday it has conditionally raised £2.4 million ($3 million) through selling shares to investors, advised by Fieldfisher LLP and Ogier.

  • February 11, 2025

    PE Unit Defeats Investor In Fight Over Software Co. Stakes

    Wealthy investor Barry Maloney attempted to force a subsidiary of Intermediate Capital Group out of their joint investment in an Irish technology unicorn, in breach of his obligations to the U.S. private equity giant, a London court ruled on Tuesday.

  • February 11, 2025

    Metals Firm To Partly Shed Biz Stake In £9M Deal

    Power Metal Resources PLC said Tuesday it aims to partially dispose of its stake in a metals exploration business under a cash transaction worth about £9.2 million ($11.4 million).

  • February 11, 2025

    Danish Estate Makes $130M Take-Private Offer For FirstFarms

    Constantinsborg AS, which owns a Danish farming estate, has made a $130 million offer for FirstFarms AS, the agriculture and food production business said on Tuesday, which will take it off of the Danish stock exchange.

  • February 11, 2025

    Tech Biz Crimson Tide To Merge With Checkit In £6.5M Deal

    Workflow optimization company Checkit PLC plans to merge with Crimson Tide PLC, a service management software company, the companies said on Tuesday after four years of talks about combining in a move to grow the business in the U.S.

  • February 11, 2025

    Novartis To Buy US Pharma Biz Anthos For Up To $3.1B

    Novartis AG said Tuesday that it plans to buy Anthos Therapeutics Inc. for up to $3.1 billion, allowing the Swiss pharmaceutical heavyweight to return a drug that originated at the company back into its portfolio of cardiovascular therapies.

  • February 10, 2025

    Yodel Denies Handing Investment Bank 10% Of Business

    Yodel has denied in court filings that it agreed to hand an investment bank a 10% stake in the business in return for the bank waiving £2.6 million ($3.2 million) in fees the logistics company allegedly owed for investment and financing services.

  • February 10, 2025

    French Giant Saint-Gobain Completes $1B Dubai Acquisition

    Saint-Gobain said Monday it has completed its purchase of Dubai-headquartered Fosroc, a deal it believes will bolster its presence in India and the Middle East.

  • February 10, 2025

    Pension Deal Adviser Isio Buys Rival Broking Specialist

    Pension advisory business Isio Group Ltd. has formally confirmed its acquisition of rival insurance and risk settlement specialist K3 Advisory Ltd. for an undisclosed fee.

  • February 10, 2025

    Maurel & Prom Buys Colombia Gas License Stake For $150M

    Maurel & Prom, an oil and gas explorer and producer, said Monday it has agreed to buy a 40% interest in a license for a gas block off Colombia's Caribbean coast for $150 million.

  • February 10, 2025

    BoE Sets Out Pro-Growth Priorities For Finance Infrastructure

    The Bank of England this year will focus on regulating financial market infrastructures to help underpin growth, as it benefits from technology such as artificial intelligence, a senior BoE official said Monday.

  • February 10, 2025

    Norway's Endúr To Acquire Construction Firms For $90M

    Norwegian marine infrastructure group Endúr ASA said Monday that it plans to buy three construction companies for just over a billion Norwegian kroner ($90 million) in a cash and share deal as it moves to expand its business.

  • February 10, 2025

    Direct Line Directors Back £3.7B Aviva Acquisition Deal

    The directors of Direct Line Insurance Group PLC said Monday that they unanimously recommend that shareholders back the £3.7 billion ($4.6 million) cash and stock takeover offer tabled by Aviva.

  • February 07, 2025

    Ousted CMA Chair Says 'Misinformation' Remains A Challenge

    The recently ousted chair of the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority reflected on what he said were great strides undoing the antitrust agency's "technocratic" character, but added it made the least progress in combating "lobbying and misinformation" intended to undermine the agency's decisions, including around the cleared Microsoft-Activision merger.

  • February 07, 2025

    Pharmacy Chain Says Seller Inflated Value In £10M M&A Deal

    A Yorkshire-based pharmacy chain has brought a £9.9 million ($12.3 million) claim in a London court against the previous owners of a group of pharmacy companies it acquired, alleging they made dishonest statements about the group's finances.

  • February 07, 2025

    Chinese State-Owned Firm Must Sell UK Semiconductor Stake

    A London court has rejected a Chinese state-owned investment company's bid for interim relief against an order to sell its stake in a British semiconductor business over national security concerns.

  • February 07, 2025

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

    This past week in London has seen Investec Bank PLC sue two diamond tycoons, London florist Nikki Tibbles file a claim against an "imitator company," a direct descendant of the Cartier family launch a claim, and a Coronation Street actor hit footballer Joe Bunney with a defamation claim. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • February 07, 2025

    Danske Bank To Buy Back $695M Worth Of Shares

    Danske Bank said on Friday that it will reward shareholders with a share repurchase program of up to five billion Danish kroner ($695 million) as it reported a bumper annual pre-tax profit for 2024.

  • February 07, 2025

    Goldman-Backed Clear Expands In Ireland With Broker Buy

    Insurance broker Clear Group has said it has bought Phelan Caswell Insurances Ltd. to broaden its footprint in the Irish market — following a string of other purchases by the U.K. company.

  • February 07, 2025

    EU Finance Watchdog Seeks Ways To Ease Reporting Burden

    The European Securities and Markets Authority unveiled plans on Friday to streamline and reduce the reporting burden for the financial sector as it aims to cut down on costs and complexity.

  • February 07, 2025

    Electrical Biz ABB Plans $1.5B Share Buyback To Trim Capital

    Swedish-Swiss electrical engineer ABB Ltd. said Friday that it plans to launch a share buyback program worth up to $1.5 billion in total to trim capital.

  • February 07, 2025

    Clifford Chance Helps L&G Sell US Insurance Biz For $2.3B

    Legal & General said Friday that it will sell its U.S. protection insurance business to Meiji Yasuda, a Japanese insurer, for $2.3 billion in cash in a move to grow its pensions risk transfer business and allow it to reward shareholders.

  • February 06, 2025

    Meta Eyes Texas Skies, Another Crypto IPO, And More Rumors

    Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. is considering relocating its legal residence to Texas, while cryptocurrency exchange Bullish is moving forward on an initial public offering, and Unilever PLC is eyeing New York as a listing destination for its ice cream business.

  • February 06, 2025

    Analytics Firm Begins £50M Buyback, Eyes Main Market

    GlobalData PLCon Thursday began a £50 million ($62 million) share repurchase program as it unveiled plans to move from theLondon Stock Exchange's junior platform AIM to its main market, advised by Reed Smith LLP.

  • February 06, 2025

    Dorsey & Whitney Steers Construction Biz On Exit From LSE

    RA International Group PLC, a construction and facilities management services provider, said Thursday that it's seeking shareholder approval to cancel its admission to London's junior investment market AIM, citing regulatory burdens and disproportionate costs.

Expert Analysis

  • Managing Transatlantic Antitrust Investigations And Litigation

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    As transatlantic competition regulators cooperate more closely and European antitrust investigations increasingly spark follow-up civil suits in the U.S., companies must understand how to simultaneously juggle high-stakes multigovernment investigations and manage the risks of expensive new claims across jurisdictions, say lawyers at Paul Weiss.

  • What To Know As EU Urges Outbound Investment Reviews

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    A recent European Commission recommendation urges European Union member states to review outbound investments in certain critical technologies sectors, but does not clarify the next steps for states once information on relevant transactions in third countries is received, say lawyers at Cleary.

  • Competition Act Brings Important UK Merger Control Changes

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    Although recently effective sections of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act provide clarity on the transactions that may attract Competition and Markets Authority attention, some reforms potentially expanding the regulator's scope may be concerning to transacting parties, say lawyers at Fried Frank.

  • How GCs Can Protect Cos. From Geopolitical Headwinds

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    Geopolitical uncertainty is perceived by corporate leaders as the biggest short-term threat to global business, but many of the potential crises are navigable if general counsel focus on what is being said about a company and what the company is doing, says Juliet Young at Schillings.

  • Key Points From FCA Financial Crime Guide Updates

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    The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent updates to its financial crime guide reflect the regulator’s learnings on sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, highlighting and clarifying consumer duty, anti-money laundering and other compliance expectations, say lawyers at Womble Bond.

  • Tax Directive Marks Milestone In Harmonizing EU System

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    The Council of the European Union’s recently adopted tax directive is a significant step toward streamlining and modernizing procedures for member states, and will greatly reduce administrative burden and compliance costs for cross-border investors, says Martin Phelan at Simmons & Simmons.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: UK Awards Versus EU Judgments

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    The Court of Appeal of England and Wales' recent refusal to enforce a €855 million Spanish judgment inconsistent with earlier binding arbitral awards in England provides crucial guidance for practitioners navigating the complexities of cross-border disputes involving arbitration agreements and sovereign states, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

  • Insider Info Compliance Highlights From New FCA Guidance

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    The Financial Conduct Authority's recent guidance to companies on identifying inside information clarifies the regulator's expectation of case-by-case assessment, helpfully highlighting that abuse of U.K.-regulated markets can arise earlier than some might think, say lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Key Points From EU's Latest FDI Screening Regulation Review

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    The European Commission’s recent assessment of the Foreign Direct Investment Screening Regulation indicates that with strong control here to stay, precautionary filings are likely to remain necessary, and member states should prepare for greater rule alignment to reduce inefficiencies caused by a current lack of synchronization, say lawyers at Linklaters.

  • How Lawyers Can Work On Unmasking Beneficial Ownership

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    The Solicitors Regulation Authority's recent anti-money laundering report suggests that identifying ultimate beneficial owners in a transaction is one of the key day-to-day challenges that law firms face, and the solution lies in combining know-your-business processes with know-your-client verification, says Sam Ruback at Thirdfort.

  • Anticipating The UK's Top M&A Trends In 2025

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    Conversations with market participants are focusing on five key questions about 2025's transactional markets, ranging from issues of artificial intelligence, to the boom in takeovers and increased regulatory scrutiny, says Layla D’Monte at King & Spalding.

  • Businesses Should Expect A Role In Tackling Fraud Next Year

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    If one word sums up a key trend in financial crime enforcement in 2024, it would be fraud, as enforcement agencies clamped down on consumer-focused crime — and businesses will need to be prepared to play a part in 2025 with the coming of the "failure to prevent fraud" offense, says Jessica Parker at Corker Binning.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Cross-Border Contract Lessons

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    A U.K. court's decision this month in Banco De Sabadell v. Cerberus provides critical lessons for practitioners involved in drafting and litigating cross-border investment agreements, and offers crucial insight into how English courts apply foreign law in complex cross-border disputes, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn. 

  • Preparing For The Next 5 Years Of EU Digital Policy

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    The new European Commission appears poised to build on the artificial intelligence, data management and digital regulation groundwork laid by President Ursula von der Leyen's first mandate, with a strong focus on enforcement and further enhancement of previous initiatives during the next five years, say lawyers at Steptoe.

  • The Rising Tide Of EU Antitrust Enforcement In Pharma

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    The European Commission’s recent record-breaking €463 million fine of Teva for abusing its dominant position confirms that European Union competition law enforcement in the pharmaceutical sector remains a priority, with infringements drawing serious financial exposure, say lawyers at Cooley.

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