International Paper settles all-share deal after tussle with British rival Mondi Business live – latest updates The FTSE 100 UK packaging firm DS Smith is to be taken over by a bigger US rival, International Paper, after the companies agreed a £5.8bn all-share deal. Tennessee-based International Paper, one of the largest paper and pulp companies in the world, moved in late March to gatecrash a £5.14bn all-share deal put forward by its British rival Mondi, based in Weybridge, that month ..read more

US investment firm snaps up UK discount retail chain ‘with huge potential’ for undisclosed sum Poundstretcher has been bought by the US investment firm Fortress, the owner of the Majestic Wine off-licence and Punch pubs group, for an undisclosed sum. The deal for the UK discount retail chain, which includes its 322 shops, of which about 60 trade under the name Bargain Buys, is the latest twist in the history of one of Britain’s first discounters, which has undergone a number of rescue deals ..read more

Traditional affinity between Conservatives and the newspaper has given way to a complex, splintered drama, and the attempted acquisition by Gulf-backed RedBird IMI lies in limbo With the Conservative party trailing Labour by nearly 20 points in the polls, it needs all the help it can get if it is going to have a fighting chance at the next election. So Downing Street strategists privately wonder why the Daily Telegraph – arguably the UK’s most staunchly rightwing paper – is not being more supportive of Rishi Sunak in its coverage ..read more

Media companies to combine publishing and advertising platforms to target gen Z and millennials The Independent will take control of BuzzFeed and HuffPost in the UK and Ireland with the intention to create “Britain’s biggest publisher network for gen Z and millennial audiences”, the publishers have said. The two media companies will combine their publishing, data and advertising platforms “to allow commercial partners to seamlessly buy across their sites ..read more

US-based International Paper puts in £5.7bn takeover proposal for DS Smith, gatecrashing Mondi offer An international bidding war is brewing for the UK packaging company DS Smith after a US-based paper producer put forward a £5.7bn takeover proposal, gatecrashing a deal it had agreed with the British rival Mondi. DS Smith confirmed it was now in talks with International Paper, which is one of the largest paper and pulp companies in the world, over an all-stock offer, which would trump the £5.14bn deal put forward by Mondi earlier this month ..read more

With the £2.9bn acquisition having big sway over its future, owners should have a say, but democractic governance is blocked Should the members of Nationwide be allowed to vote on their building society’s £2.9bn acquisition of Virgin Money? Well, of course they should. The concept of mutual ownership can be fuzzy around the edges, but a deal that will expand the society’s assets by about a third is precisely the sort of transaction where the members should have the final say. Indeed, you’d hope the Nationwide’s board would see the sense of checking that the owners are up for the adventure. The ..read more

Richard Branson has already indicated he will back takeover that will require the agreement of the group’s shareholders Business live – latest updates Nationwide Building Society is lined up to take over its smaller rival Virgin Money after the pair formally agreed a deal worth £2.9bn. The deal, which will solidify Nationwide’s position as the UK’s second largest mortgage lender, will also trigger the resignation of Virgin Money boss David Duffy, and is likely to lead to job cuts as well as an official “review” of the combined group’s workforce ..read more

Britain’s biggest drugmaker’s latest acquisition will help it to develop new radiotherapy treatments Business live – latest updates Britain’s biggest drugmaker, AstraZeneca, is to buy a Canadian cancer specialist focused on next-generation treatments for $2.4bn (£1.9bn), the latest in a string of acquisitions made to strengthen its portfolio of new medicines. The Anglo-Swedish company struck an agreement to acquire Fusion Pharmaceuticals, which is developing next-generation radioconjugates that offer an alternative to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. It has emerged as a new type of cancer trea ..read more

Experts question if ‘bigger is better’ and whether members should be consulted on the £2.9bn deal The Nationwide building society is facing growing calls to give its 16 million members a say on its proposed £2.9bn takeover of high street rival Virgin Money in what would be the biggest UK banking deal since the financial crisis. It is just under two weeks since the building society shocked the City when it said it had reached a preliminary agreement to pay Virgin Money shareholders 220p a share, a 38% premium on the lender’s share price at the time ..read more

Potential move by RedBird IMI follows UK government plan to ban foreign state ownership of newspapers The United Arab Emirates-backed consortium RedBird IMI is considering a sale of its stake in the Telegraph, after its attempt to take over the media group was effectively scuppered by UK government plans to ban foreign state ownership of newspapers. It paid £600m last November to clear the debts of the group’s owners, the Barclay family, but within days the transfer of control was put on hold amid an investigation into whether it raised public interest concerns ..read more