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Media coverage of BDO's warning on March 1 prompted immediate questions from financial regulators, a March 6 letter to Reuters from Revolut shows. The letter did not address the banking licence application nor its status. "I would be astonished if the regulators go ahead with the banking licence," he added. Revolut applied for a banking licence about two years ago. With a banking licence, Revolut would become a more established player in the U.K. banking market and be able to draw more customers.

☆ Ascential's consumer data unit draws interest from Apax, BC Partners - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Amy-Jo Crowley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Private equity firms including Providence Equity and Carlyle are also evaluating an offer for WGSN, two of the people said. Apax, Ascential, BC Partners, Carlyle, JPMorgan and Providence declined to comment. BC Partners has experience in owning information assets including the financial media and data firm Acuris, which it sold to Irish software firm ION Investment Group in 2019. Ascential generated 121.1 million pounds in adjusted EBITDA last year, up 36% from a year earlier. Revenue rose to 524.4 million pounds from 349.3 million pounds.

☆ Galderma owners delay IPO, review Credit Suisse role - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The shareholders, including Swedish buyout house EQT (EQTAB.ST) and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), are also reviewing Credit Suisse's (CSGN.S) role as global coordinator for the IPO, the source added, after the troubled lender agreed to be taken over by rival UBS in a government-brokered rescue. Bloomberg first reported on the IPO delay and the review of Credit Suisse's role. Galderma had been preparing to list as soon as after the Easter holidays, sources had told Reuters, having previously delayed its IPO plans because of poor market conditions. Last year, the group was forced to postpone its listing ambitions after the invasion of Ukraine and soaring interest rates ground the IPO market almost to a halt, as reported. Galderma and Credit Suisse declined to comment.

Brookfield has prevailed over other investment firms in an auction that Data4's majority owner, Axa Investment Managers, held for the company, the sources said on Friday. If negotiations and financing arrangements are concluded successfully, a deal could be announced as early as next week, the sources added. The sources cautioned that there remained a chance that no deal would be completed and asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. Brookfield declined to comment, while representatives for Data4 and AXA Investments, a division of French insurer AXA (AXAF.PA), did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Headquartered in Paris, Data4 operates at least 25 data centers across France, Italy, Spain and Luxembourg, according to its website.

☆ Subprime lender Amigo to wind down after failing to raise funds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - British subprime lender Amigo Holdings plc (AMGO.L) said on Thursday it would wind down after failing to secure adequate investor interest in a crucial capital raising, ending months of efforts to restructure its ailing business. The loan book will continue to be collected during the wind-down phase and employees will continue to be paid, the company said. Amigo has been scrambling to survive after struggling to cope with the cost of compensating customers for missold loans. Shares have collapsed 99% from a high of 315 pence shortly after a 2018 IPO valuing it at 1.3 billion pounds. Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley Editing by Sinead Cruise and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Ardian, which is the second largest shareholder in INWIT behind European tower company Vantage Towers AG (VTWRn.DE), wants to take INWIT private and is working with advisers at JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) on a potential offer, the people said. Deutsche Telekom last year sold 51% of its tower business Funkturm to a consortium of Canada's Brookfield and U.S. private equity firm DigitalBridge. Any offer for INWIT could take months to materialise as preparations remain at a preliminary stage, one of the people said. The sources cautioned that an offer is not certain and asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. Ardian, Vantage Towers, INWIT and JPMorgan declined to comment.

☆ Explainer: Why markets are in uproar over a risky bank bond known as AT1
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Here are some of the implications of the Credit Suisse AT1 bond write-down. WHAT IS AN AT1 BOND? Credit Suisse AT1 holders, therefore, are the only ones not to receive any kind of compensation. It is not the first time that the treatment of AT1 bonds in a bank overhaul has caused controversy. The decision to write down Credit Suisse AT1 bonds to zero is viewed as negative for the AT1 bond market globally.

As part of the overhaul announced in October, it is seeking to spin off merger advice and leveraged finance into a new entity named Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), for which it has been seeking buyers. Credit Suisse is most valuable in separate parts, and there are high-level M&A talks taking place, said a senior banker who advises banks on deals. TAKEOVERSelling off parts of Credit Suisse could require time, which markets may not give. The two have complementary investment banking businesses -Credit Suisse is stronger in credit and UBS in equities. However, some have faith that Credit Suisse can still make it safely to the end of the tight rope.

WASHINGTON/SINGAPORE, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities launched emergency measures on Sunday to shore up confidence in the banking system after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) threatened to trigger a broader financial crisis. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a mainstay for the startup economy, was a product of the decades-long era of cheap money, with unique risks that made it especially vulnerable. With the Fed poised to continue raising interest rates, investors said the financial system may not be fully out of the woods just yet. Goldman Sachs' analysts said they no longer expect it to raise rates at that meeting, amid the stress in the banking sector. A senior U.S. Treasury official said the actions taken would protect depositors, while providing additional support to the broader banking system, but officials and regulators were continuing to monitor financial system stability.

With assets of around 5.5 billion pounds and deposits of around 6.7 billion pounds, SVB UK is a minnow compared to HSBC. The situation was urgent because SVB UK had lost almost half of its deposits in the 48 hours leading up to its rescue, the source said. Officials from the Bank of England and Treasury along with board members from SVB UK were then locked in talks. HSBC also plans to inject 2 billion pounds of liquidity into SVB UK, a spokesperson for HSBC said. Advisory firm Rothschild, which advised SVB UK according to sources, also declined to comment.

☆ UK finance minister and Bank of England work to contain SVB fallout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The Bank of England on Friday said it was seeking a court order to place SVB UK into an insolvency procedure. Advisory firm Rothschild & Co is exploring options for SVB UK as insolvency looms, two people familiar with the discussions told Reuters. More than 250 UK tech firm chief executives signed a letter addressed to Jeremy Hunt, the British chancellor of the exchequer (finance minister), calling for government intervention, a copy seen by Reuters shows. "The recent news about SVB going into insolvency represents an existential threat to the UK tech sector," the letter said. Sky News had reported earlier on Saturday that a British clearing bank, the Bank of London, was considering a rescue bid for the UK arm of SVB.

☆ Bank of America names senior Europe TMT bankers in reshuffle -memo
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Amy-Jo Crowley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, March 9 (Reuters) - Bank of America (BAC.N) has made a handful of senior appointments within its investment banking team advising European technology, media and telecom (TMT) companies, an internal memo seen by Reuters showed. The memo, which was confirmed by a Bank of America spokesperson, said the U.S. bank has named veterans Alexandre Gafsi and Emmanuel Hibou as chairs of TMT Investment Banking in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) to "focus fully on covering some of our key clients". It has also appointed Thomas Koehrer and James Robertson as co-heads of TMT Investment Banking for the EMEA region. Peter Luck, who has been co-head of UK Investment Banking with Robertson, is now taking over full UK responsibilities. Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley; Additional reporting by Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro; Editing by Elisa Martinuzzi and Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Although Polish teams have struggled to make a mark in European competitions and the country's coefficient places them 27th in the UEFA standings, there has been steady improvement in the last five seasons. In terms of value, we have a competitive structure similar to the Premier League, even though we have no government sponsorship or oligarch investment," Mioduski said. "So now we are at a point where our clubs are well-managed and run with a talent pool where private investment, like private equity, can take the clubs and the league to the next level." Mioduski said they have reached a point where they would welcome external investment both in the league and its clubs. "The Polish league as a whole has been developing more slowly but in a much more competitive fashion, with teams... maximising their limited resources," he added.

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) - European buyout houses Montagu Private Equity and Astorg Partners are preparing to hang the "for sale" sign on their UK insurance software investments, hoping to woo insurers and fellow private capital funds with their technology. Acturis, Astorg and Open GI did not respond to requests for comment. It last attempted to sell the business in 2018 and has since strived to transform it into a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, which could attract fellow private equity funds with existing investments in the insurance industry, sources said. Open GI could be worth up to 12 times its expected core earnings of more than 30 million pounds ($35.96 million) expected for 2023, two sources said. Revenue rose to 111.9 million pounds from 102.4 million pounds the previous year, as the company added new brokers and insurers to its eponymous SaaS platform.

LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Buyout financier Ares Management Corp (ARES.N) has been offering funds to support a takeover of Manchester United (MANU.N), three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. It is the latest U.S. asset manager to seek a financing role in the battle for the English soccer club. It was unclear whether Ares has been looking to finance bids for Manchester United through that fund, which has already invested in Spain's Atletico de Madrid soccer club and Inter Miami CF, or another vehicle. Last Friday, Manchester United received indicative offers from bidders including chemicals firm INEOS, led by long-time fan Jim Ratcliffe, and Qatari Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani. INEOS wants to fund an offer without external financing, but could consider bringing in a minority equity partner, one source said.

Manchester United, INEOS, Tesla and Musk did not reply to requests for comment. "For potential buyers, football clubs like Manchester United are considered trophy assets driven by the perception of exclusivity. The size of that bid has fuelled speculation Manchester United will attract significantly more. Manchester United is the fourth richest soccer club in the world, according to analysis by Deloitte. A small portion of Manchester United shares is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

FIS plans to pursue a tax-free spin-off of its merchant business, which processes payments for companies, the sources said. The spin-off will take many months to be completed, and FIS will also entertain any acquisition offers for the unit during this period, the sources added. Much of FIS's merchant business consists of Worldpay, which it bought for $43 billion in 2019. The sources cautioned that no transaction is certain and asked not to be identified discussing confidential deliberations. Merchant solutions makes up about 30% of the company's revenue, while its banking solutions arm constitutes about 46%, and capital market solutions the remainder.

CTIL is attracting interest from pension funds including Britain's largest, the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), which has started preliminary work on a potential offer, two of the sources said. Telefonica, Liberty Global and USS declined to comment. A number of telecom towers deals in Europe have seen infrastructure investors compete for a slice of the continent’s largest towers networks partly because of their stable cash yield and long-term contracts. Vodafone (VOD.L) owns 50% of CTIL through its Frankfurt-based subsidiary Vantage Towers (VTWRn.DE), and is not planning to cut its holding, the people said. Telefonica and Liberty Global do not plan to ask Vantage Towers to bid for the holding for competitive reasons, according to the sources.

The business has been valued at as much as 3 billion pounds ($3.7 billion), according to analysts. "But we do see a pathway whereby, via consolidation, ITV may be able to simultaneously both demonstrate and create value from ITV Studios," they said. ITV built up its Studios production business in the last decade to reduce its reliance on the British advertising market and tap into rising global demand for content. Revenue in the nine months to end-September rose 16% to 1.39 billion pounds ($1.71 billion). That would imply a valuation of about 3 billion pounds, in line with analysts' calculations and nearly as much as ITV's total market value of 3.27 billion pounds.

☆ Global shareholder activism sees record number of European campaigns
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Amy-Jo Crowley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Benoit TessierLONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Activist shareholders stepped up pressure on corporate boardrooms last year by starting 235 campaigns to shake up companies, including a record number in Europe. Activists buy up stakes in companies to lobby for change that they hope will improve a target’s share price. Large-cap companies with a value $25 billion or more accounted for the biggest share of overall campaigns, while technology and industrial companies accounted for roughly four in ten campaigns. Lazard's report said that while the number of activist campaigns rose sharply last year, activist investors’ returns were hit by tumbling public market performance especially in the United States. Mergers and acquisitions-related campaigns, including "sell the company" demands, also made a come-back and represented 41% of all campaigns, despite global dealmaking suffering a fall last year.

FRANKFURT, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Hellman & Friedman (H&F) is weighing options for its Italian cloud software maker TeamSystem, a business which could be valued at several billion euros, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Private equity investors are showing interest in TeamSystem, which may also attract sovereign wealth funds, they said. Hellman & Friedman acquired TeamSystem in 2016 and in 2021 moved the company from one of its funds to another. TeamSystem, which was founded in 1979, generated revenue of 545 million euros in 2021, while posting adjusted core earnings of around 235 million euros, according to company results on its website. While a decision on its valuation is still in flux, that could mean more than 6 billion euros including debt, the person said.

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