James Taylor
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts’ £10.1 billion bid for Alliance Boots, potentially the largest European buyout to date, has become the latest deal to attract the ire of the UK-based GMB trade union, private equity’s most vociferous opponent.
The potential A$11billion buyout of Qantas, Australia’s biggest airline, looked to be back on today, after the Macquarie-led consortium restructured its deal to require a lower level of shareholder acceptance. Opposition from leading shareholders had looked likely to scupper the bid.
Shareholders in Countrywide, a UK estate agency, voted overwhelmingly in favour of Apollo Management’s £1.05 billion offer today. The US buyout firm had been forced to sweeten its bid yesterday to fend off an eleventh hour approach from an unnamed suitor – reportedly UK group 3i.
An aggrieved shareholder has launched a lawsuit against US buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts over its potential $29 billion deal for US firm First Data, on the grounds that the proposed bid is too low.
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts’ £10.1 billion bid for Alliance Boots, potentially the largest European buyout to date, has become the latest deal to attract the ire of the UK-based GMB trade union, private equity’s most vociferous opponent.
The potential A$11billion buyout of Qantas, Australia’s biggest airline, looked to be back on today, after the Macquarie-led consortium restructured its deal to require a lower level of shareholder acceptance. Opposition from leading shareholders had looked likely to scupper the bid.
The Sainsbury family seems to have triumphed in its bid to keep the UK retailer out of private equity hands, after the last remaining members of the buyout consortium admitted defeat in their battle to take the company private.
US buyout firm Apollo Management has continued its recent spate of activity by agreeing a $1.5 billion deal for the aluminium business of Xstrata, an Anglo-Swiss mining group.
Wendel, the French-listed investment group, is continuing its efforts to expand outside its home market by launching an Asia-Pacific operation and recruiting Philippe Donnet to run it.
Shares in Australian retailer Coles Group continued to climb as a A$20 billion bidding war between local rival Wesfarmers, a Kohlberg Kravis Roberts-led buyout consortium, and other international trade players looked increasingly likely.