City AM

A top investment bank has sounded the alarm and called on the government to act today after a take-private deal for Darktrace took the total value of exits from the London Stock Exchange to north of £60bn. The £4.3bn take-private deal, struck with US private equity firm Thoma Bravo, marks the 20th takeover of a London-listed firm this year. Deals worth more than £26bn have now been waved through by boards since January, with firms picked off at an average of 36 per cent above their value on the market, underscoring the valuation gap that has plagued London’s historic bourse in recent years. While Thoma Bravo walked away from talks to buy Darktrace in 2022, the latest bid comes in at a premium of 20 per cent on its current value on the London Stock Exchange. Some £38bn worth of companies including gambling giant Flutter and travel firm Tui have also fled the London Stock Exchange overseas, taking the total value of exits to over £60bn, according to Peel Hunt. ✍️ Charlie Conchie Read the full story here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eDnD9PNc

A legal challenge against HSBC for £240m by investors of a film tax scheme has failed at the High Court. Mr Justice Bright noted in his judgment that "their losses are significant, their suffering has been real, and they have every right to feel aggrieved." Despite that, he ruled it "is not enough for them to have a good claim against HSBC." ✍ Maria Ward-Brennan Read the full story here 👇 https://lnkd.in/ec56F93q #HSBC #HighCourt #Tax

A top investment bank has sounded the alarm and called on government to act today after a take-private deal for Darktrace took the total value of exits from the London Stock Exchange to north of £60bn. The £4.3bn take-private deal, struck with US private equity firm Thoma Bravo, marks the 20th takeover of a London-listed firm this year. Deals worth more than £26bn have now been waved through by boards sine January, with firms picked off at an average of 36 per cent above their value on the market, underscoring the valuation gap that has plagued London’s historic bourse in recent years. While Thoma Bravo walked away from talks to buy Darktrace in 2022, the latest bid comes in at a premium of 20 per cent on its current value on the London Stock Exchange. Continue reading 👇 https://lnkd.in/eDnD9PNc #londonstockexchange #lse #stockmarket #stocks #london #exodus #darktrace #news #uknews

Mining giant Anglo American has rejected BHP Group’s £31.1bn proposal after concluding the plan would undervalue its future prospects. The talk of a potential mega-deal from BHP to buy up London-listed miner Anglo American had the mining world attention. As hours after the news of the talks was confirmed by Anglo, its share price has jumped by more than 12 per cent, There was warnings from South Africa’s minerals resources Minister who warned that his country’s previous experience with BHP was “not positive” in the wake of the group’s mega-deal bid for Anglo American. Continue reading 👇 https://lnkd.in/dznRW5dM #AngloAmerican #bhp2024 #mining #deals #business #NewsUpdate #uknews

Independence should not mean the Bank of England is shielded from government scrutiny or accountability to the public Says Damian Pudner https://lnkd.in/eUX9Jai2

The developer and manager of Canary Wharf in East London has reported a 14.7 per cent annual fall in the value of its property holdings to £6.8bn. Profit before tax also declined from £39.9m to £27m, marking the third year since the pandemic where this figure slipped. Canary Wharf Group, which is owned by Brookfield and the Qatar Investment Authority, has been challenged in recent years by the departure of star tenants such as HSBC. Commercial property values have also been bruised by rising interest rates and fears about the health of the office market as hybrid working trends linger post-pandemic. On Thursday, the business behind the docklands banking hub also announced a £553m financing deal. It secured £341m on 25 Churchill Place, the home of accountancy firm EY and European Medicines Agency, until July 2030. ✍️ Laura McGuire Read the full story here 👇 https://lnkd.in/d8DZeimz #london #canarywharf #property #commericalproperty #interestrates #markets #tax

UK dividends grew by 4.9 per cent in the first three months of 2024, reaching £15.6bn thanks to one-off special dividends. Some 95 per cent of companies either increased their dividends or held them steady, according to Computershare’s latest Dividend Monitor, though regular dividends rose only two per cent throughout the quarter, as most of the growth came from special dividend issuance. The best issuers were centred around the airline, leisure and travel sectors, as payouts finally started to climb back towards pre-pandemic levels. Caterer Compass also saw strong issuance thanks to a recovery in global travel, pushing up the consumer goods sector average. Meanwhile, the food, drink and tobacco sector also saw growth, thanks mainly to strong profits at Primark owner Associated British Foods. ✍️ Elliot Gulliver-Needham Read the full story here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eK3rmgJ5

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London has once again held on to its crown as the world’s most desirable city for work, according to a major study, in a boost for the Square Mile’s reputation as a global financial hub. The capital has retained its title for 10 years, since the launch of the “Decoding Global Talent” survey by Boston Consulting Group, The Network and The Stepstone Group. The latest edition, surveying more than 150,000 workers from 188 countries, showed the top ten was rounded out by Amsterdam, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, New York, Berlin, Singapore, Barcelona, Tokyo and Sydney. Other UK cities to breach the top 100 included Edinburgh at 53rd, Birmingham at 58th, Belfast at 79th and Glasgow at 83th. ✍️ Lars Mucklejohn Continue reading 👇 https://lnkd.in/eKRKhamq #london #londoncity #workers #office #uk #globalfinancialhub #placetowork #officeculture

Broadcaster ITV and its production company ITN has been hit with legal action by the publisher of The Sun newspaper. The claim was filed by Taylor Wessing, the external law firm for News Group Newspapers (NGN), a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News UK. The case is at Intellectual Property and Enterprise Court and it is understood to relate to footage of the Prince and Princess of Wales at a farm shop in Windsor in March. 🖋 Maria Ward-Brennan Read the full story here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eNQPj_nw #ITV #HighCourt #TheSun #Legal #Law