LONDON: Private equity firms KKR and Stonepeak have increased their cash offer for Assura plc, a UK-based healthcare property company, in a bid to outcompete a rival takeover attempt by Primary Health Properties (PHP). The consortium, operating through newly formed Sana Bidco Limited, announced Wednesday its “best and final” cash offer of 50.42 pence per…
Oakley Capital acquires majority stake in global advisory firm G3
LONDON: Oakley Capital VI, a fund managed by pan-European private equity firm Oakley Capital, has acquired a majority stake in G3, a global strategic advisory consultancy. The transaction marks the fund’s first investment since reaching its €4.5 billion hard cap earlier this year. Oakley Capital Investments Limited said its indirect contribution via Fund VI is…
WPS Global offers to acquire Ricardo Plc for $358 million
LONDON: WSP Global Inc., a leading professional services firm, has agreed to acquire British engineering and environmental consultancy Ricardo PLC in a deal valued at approximately £281 million ($358 million). Under the terms of the acquisition, Ricardo shareholders will receive 430 pence per share in cash, representing a 28% premium over Ricardo’s closing price of 335 pence on June…
Global economic growth to slow to 2.3% in 2025 amid rising trade tensions, World Bank reports
WASHINGTON: The global economy is facing significant headwinds as growth is projected to slow to 2.3% in 2025, the weakest pace since 2008 outside of outright recessions, according to the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report released Wednesday. The slowdown is driven by escalating trade barriers, heightened policy uncertainty, and financial market volatility, with emerging market and…
Pakistan enacts Digital Presence Proceeds Tax Act to tax foreign tech firms
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has introduced a new tax targeting multinational digital companies with significant user bases in the country but little to no physical presence, marking a major shift in how foreign tech firms are taxed. The Digital Presence Proceeds Tax Act, 2025, which took immediate effect, aims to address tax base erosion caused by the current…
Brown & Brown to acquire Accession Risk Management in $9.83 billion deal
NEW YORK: Brown & Brown (BRO.N) announced Tuesday it will acquire rival Risk Strategies and its parent company, Accession Risk Management, in a $9.83 billion deal, expanding its capabilities in property and casualty insurance as well as employee benefits. The acquisition is part of a wave of consolidation in the highly fragmented insurance brokerage industry, where major…
Wayve, Uber to launch first public autonomous vehicle trials in London
LONDON: Wayve and Uber Technologies Inc. announced plans Tuesday to develop and test Level 4 autonomous vehicles on public roads in London, marking the largest market where Uber has proposed such a pilot. The collaboration combines Wayve’s AI-driven autonomous vehicle platform with Uber’s global ride-hailing network, advancing efforts to deploy self-driving cars at scale in Europe….
Oxford Instruments to sell its NanoScience business to Quantum Design International
LONDON: Oxford Instruments plc, a leading provider of high technology products and services to industry and scientific research communities, today announced that it has entered into a binding agreement to sell its quantum-focused business Oxford Instruments NanoScience to Quantum Design, International Inc. for a £60 million total cash consideration, including up to £3m of deferred…
Vantage Data Centers raises €720 million in European securitization deal
U.S. data center operator Vantage Data Centers has secured €720 million ($821.4 million) in Europe’s first euro-denominated asset-backed securitization (ABS) deal involving data center assets, the company announced Tuesday. The transaction, backed by four of Vantage’s German facilities—two in Berlin and two in Frankfurt—marks a milestone in European data center financing. The bonds issued carry an average…
VinaCapital sells stake in Vietnam’s leading private healthcare network
HANOI: VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund (VOF), a London-listed closed-end fund managed by VinaCapital, has sold its stake in Tam Tri Medical Joint Stock Company (TTMC), Vietnam’s leading private healthcare network, to a prominent healthcare-focused private equity firm in South and Southeast Asia. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. VOF initially invested in TTMC in 2018…
Lords Group has acquired CMO Group Limited
LONDON: Lords Group Trading, one of the UK’s largest specialist distributors of building materials, has acquired the trade and assets of CMO Group Limited (CMO), the UK’s largest online-only retailer of construction products following a CMO pre-pack administration process. The acquisition brings together Lords’ infrastructure and merchanting expertise with CMO’s digital-first online model and reflects Lords’…
Warner Bros. Discovery to split into two public companies in tax-free separation
LOS ANGELES: Warner Bros. Discovery announced Monday it will separate into two independent, publicly traded companies in a tax-free transaction aimed at maximizing growth potential for its streaming and studio division and its global networks business. The move, expected to be completed by mid-2026, will create Streaming & Studios, housing major entertainment brands like Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group,…