A congressional antitrust panel plans to examine whether the White House improperly influenced merger oversight, including the Justice Department’s lawsuit to block AT&T’s takeover of Time Warner, according to Bloomberg. Democratic Representative David Cicilline of Rhode Island, who is taking over as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel, wants to examine what role, […]
Biopharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly has agreed to buy Loxo Oncology in a deal valued at US$8 billion. Eli Lilly said it will pay US$235 a share in cash for Stamford, Connecticut-based Loxo. Loxo is expected to bolster Eli Lilly’s oncology-treatment portfolio. It also aims to treat patients that have cancer from single-gene abnormalities. “We are […]
Britain’s competition watchdog announced on Wednesday, December 5, that PayPal’s US$2.2 billion takeover of Swedish financial technology startup iZettle would be referred for an in-depth review. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) stated PayPal had refused to offer proposals to address its concerns on how the deal—PayPal’s biggest ever—could hurt competition and could lead to […]
Civil engineering conglomerate Murray & Roberts said on Friday, June 8, it had asked South Africa’s competition authorities to stop its biggest shareholder from fully exercising its voting rights that could be use to block its tie-up with rival construction firm Aveng. Murray & Roberts, a major South African construction firm, has been in tug […]
Britain’s government says it does not intend to refer US media conglomerate Comcast’s £22 billion (US$30.7 billion) takeover offer for London-based Sky to competition authorities, saying the proposed merger doesn’t raise concerns on public interest grounds. Culture Secretary Matt Hancock says he’s “reviewed the relevant evidence” and that he is “minded not to issue” an […]
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has approved grocery retailer The Co-Op’s £137.5 million (US$191.7 million) takeover of retailer Nisa after finding that the merger does not give rise to competition concerns. The CMA declared that as The Co-op operates as a groceries retailer and Nisa operates as a groceries wholesaler they do not […]
Bayer said late Monday, April 16, that it would sell new shares to investment company Temasek for roughly €3 billion (US$3.7 billion); the proceeds of which Bayer will use to help finance its takeover of Monsanto. The German drugmaker stated that under the agreement, Bayer is to issue to a subsidiary of Temasek at an […]
Tesco, Britain’s biggest retailer, has completed the £4 billion (US$5.51 billion) takeover of Booker, the country’s largest wholesaler, the companies said on Monday, March 5. The cash and shares deal, originally worth £3.7 billion (US$4.6 billion at the time) when it was first announced in January 2017, was implemented through a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement. […]
Tabcorp’s US$11 billion bid for rival gambling outfit Tatts has hit an unforeseen courtroom hurdle put in place by the takeovers handicapper, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). Tabcorp had expected to be well into the home straight with the takeover before the start of Spring Carnival, but now finds itself back it the […]
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker today confirmed his plans for a new framework to “screen” foreign takeovers of EU companies. The commission is expected to set out more details on the foreign deal crackdown in Brussels tomorrow. Chinese takeover activity in particular has caused a stir in Europe, with China-to-EU mergers and acquisitions (M&A) reaching […]