Deal is unanimously recommended by UK bookmaker’s directors
The US casino operator Caesars Entertainment has agreed a £2.9bn takeover of the British bookmaker William Hill.
The companies announced on Wednesday that Caesars would pay £2.72 per William Hill share in cash, a premium of more than a quarter compared with the price before the US company’s interest was first reported last week.
Continue reading...Billionaire owners of British petrol forecourts operator are Walmart’s preferred bidder
The billionaire owners of the British petrol forecourts operator EG Group have taken pole position in the £6.5bn race for control of Asda after being named the preferred bidder by the supermarket’s US owner.
Mohsin and Zuber Issa, who are working with the private-equity firm TDR Capital, have pushed out a rival offer from the private-equity firm Apollo Global Management.
Continue reading...US hotel and entertainment company makes offer for one of UK’s biggest bookmakers
The operator of the Las Vegas casino Caesars Palace has confirmed it is in “advanced discussions” about a possible £2.9bn takeover bid for the UK bookmaker William Hill.
Caesars Entertainment said it had offered 272p a share in cash after scrutinising the company’s books.
Continue reading...One of the UK’s largest high street bookmakers at the centre of a possible US bidding war
William Hill, one of the UK’s largest and best-known high street bookmakers, is at the centre of a possible US bidding war that could mean it is bought by the operator of the Las Vegas casino, Caesars Palace.
Shares in the British gambling company surged by more than 40% on Friday after the bookie said it had received “separate cash proposals” from a private equity firm, Apollo Management International, which is currently in the running to buy Asda, and from the hotel and entertainment group, Caesars Entertainment.
Continue reading...Two bidders in running to snap up Walmart-owned chain as Lone Star drops out
Private equity firm Apollo Global Management is thought to have edged into the lead in the £6.5bn bidding war for Asda after rival Lone Star Funds dropped out.
It is thought a third bid from private equity firm TDR Capital remains in the running – the group is understood to have been working on a deal with the billionaire Issa brothers, who are behind the British forecourts operator EG Group.
Continue reading...Jensen Huang’s offer of legally binding guarantees to safeguard UK interests fail to allay doubts
MPs are to debate the controversial $40bn (£31bn) sale of the UK’s biggest tech company, Arm Holdings, after assurances from its US buyer failed to quell lingering concern that the deal will harm British interests.
Jensen Huang, the founder and chief executive of California-based tech firm Nvidia, moved to allay fears about the transaction on Friday, publicly declaring himself willing to offer legally binding guarantees on jobs and investment.
Continue reading...Article in Chinese state-backed Global Times calls for intervention in deal
China is emerging as a potential stumbling block to the controversial $40bn (£31bn) sale of the UK’s largest tech firm, Arm Holdings, as the British government wavers on whether to intervene in the deal.
Labour, unions and Arm’s co-founder have urged ministers either to block the sale of the chip designer by Japanese investment firm SoftBank to US firm Nvidia, or insist upon legally-binding conditions to ensure British interests are not harmed.
Continue reading...UK government urged to intervene in SoftBank’s $40bn deal with US tech firm
Opposition to the $40bn (£31bn) sale of the UK’s largest tech firm, Arm Holdings, is mounting, as the trade union Unite said staff concerned about their future had been “fobbed off” and the company’s local MP urged the government to act.
The US software company Nvidia said on Monday it had agreed to buy Arm, a global leader in designing chips for smartphones, computers and tablets, from the Japanese tech investment business SoftBank.
Related: Arm's sale to Nvidia makes sense but we need binding guarantees | Nils Pratley
Continue reading...A flurry of M&A activity sees Nvidia buy ARM for $40bn, Gilead acquire Immunomedics for $21bn and TikTok team up with Oracle to avoid (it hopes) a US ban
European stock markets have also begun the week brightly, with gains across the board.
In London, the FTSE 100 index has jumped by 42 points or 0.7% to 6037 points, its highest level in nearly three weeks.
M&A appears to be the main focus as we start a new week with US pharma company Gilead Sciences buying cancer drug maker Immunomedics for $21bn, while Softbank appears to have finally agreed a price with US graphics chip maker NVidia, for UK chip company ARM Holdings of $40bn, as it seeks to bolster its balance sheet after a rather troubled 2019, as well as the recent scrutiny of its big derivative bets on some big US tech shares.
Softbank shares have moved sharply higher in Asia trading this morning on news of the sale, however this optimism needs to be tempered.
Stock markets across the Asia-Pacific region rallied today, with Softbank leading the way.
Shares in Softbank jumped by 9%, as traders applauded the sale of Arm to Nvidia.
ARM founder Hermann Hauser adds that Boris Johnson’s government should block Nvidia’s acquisition:
“This is a UK company, it’s clearly in the national interest that it stays a UK company, so the government clearly has the power to prevent that [the deal]”
Hermann Hauser, ARM’s co-founder, says the sale of ARM to a US firm was an “absolute disaster for Cambridge, the UK and Europe”.
He warned that it would lead to job losses in the UK, destroy the UK firm’s business model and impinge on UK economic sovereignty. Any promises made on jobs are “meaningless unless they are legally enforceable,” pointing to the takeover of Cadbury by US company Kraft in 2010.
“The headquarters [will] move to the United States as they inevitably will when ARM becomes a division of Nvidia. This will lead to job losses in Cambridge, Manchester, Belfast, Warwick where ARM employs thousands of people.
Secondly, Nvidia will destroy ARM’s business model… which is being the Switzerland of the semiconductor industry of dealing with over 500 licensees, most of which are competitors of Nvidia.
“Which means that if hundreds of UK companies that incorporate ARM in their products want to export it to anywhere in the world including to China which is a major market, this decision on whether they are allowed to export it will be made in the White House, and not in Downing Street.”
https://t.co/3husABs2lg ARM, crown jewel of UK tech, sold on by Softbank to Nvidia for $40billion. Deal described by cofounder Hermann Hauser as a disaster - he's writing to 10 Downing Street warning it will destroy the firm's business model and make Britain "a US vassal state."
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.
The City has woken up to an dealmaking frenzy this morning, with three tie-ups with serious ramifications well beyond the markets being announced.
The Washington Post reported that Oracle had been chosen by ByteDance as a ‘“technology partner” to allay US concerns, and Reuters quoted a source as saying it would be a restructuring rather than a sale, with Oracle handling TikTok’s US user data. The source did not disclose how much of TikTok’s US operations ByteDance and its investors would continue to own.
ByteDance will need approval for the deal from both Washington and Beijing. It is not clear whether Trump, who wants a US technology company to own most of TikTok in the United States, will approve the proposal.
Related: TikTok: ByteDance 'to partner with Oracle' in US after rejecting Microsoft bid
https://t.co/3husABs2lg ARM, crown jewel of UK tech, sold on by Softbank to Nvidia for $40billion. Deal described by cofounder Hermann Hauser as a disaster - he's writing to 10 Downing Street warning it will destroy the firm's business model and make Britain "a US vassal state."
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