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 ..read more

In this ‘how to’ series, Ambition A.M. will explore some of the challenges facing Britain’s entrepreneurial community, providing firsthand insight and advice on how to overcome some of the most daunting ones. Just because you’ve started a business doesn’t mean your journey is complete.  In reality, the journey has just begun because the next step is figuring out how – and where – to grow it.  Establishing a presence in your home market is often the first choice of plan, but when it comes to long-term entrepreneurial ambition, the list of opportunities can be never-end ..read more

Ambition A.M. takes a look at how founders can use their disability to their advantage, with some firsthand insight from Martyn Sibley, co-founder and chief executive of specialist disability and inclusion marketing agency Purple Goat.  Every week, Ambition A.M. passes the pen (or keyboard) to a founder eager to share the unfiltered stories fuelling Britain’s entrepreneurial spirit. This week, we spotlight Martyn Sibley, co-founder and chief executive at Purple Goat, the specialist disability and inclusion marketing agency using social media to unlock the power of the disabled community ..read more

Personalised card company Moonpig suffered its worst day of trading in three years on Thursday, after a  private equity firm sold 25 million of shares in the firm.  The move sent shares in the FTSE 250 plunging resulting in what was the worst day of trading for the company as a listed business.  Investors led by private equity firm Exponent sold 25 million shares in the card and gift business at 160p a piece, more than 10 per cent below Wednesday’s closing price of 178p.  The sale cut Exponent’s stake in the business by about a third and raised around £40m in process.  ..read more

WILLIAM Haggas has had great success overseas, but he is yet to have a winner in Hong Kong. “That really irks me,” said the 63-year-old Newmarket-based trainer. “We’ve had a bit of luck abroad in other places but not in Hong Kong, so I’d like to get that monkey off my back so to speak.” Dubai Honour could be the one to remove the monkey in Sunday morning’s FWD QEII Cup (9.40am). This will be the six-year-old’s third appearance in Hong Kong having finished a close fourth in the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup in 2021 and third in last year’s QEII. That third 12 months ago came on the back of a Group On ..read more

Nearly half a million UK businesses have become ‘financially distressed,’ with tens of thousands facing the possibility of insolvency within the next 12 months, a new report from Begbies has claimed. The Begbies Traynor “Red Flag Alert” research shows a total of 554,554 UK businesses — within all major sectors — have entered what is considered “significant” financial distress within the past year, a 30 per cent surge since 2023. The number of those in “critical” financial distress has jumped 20 per cent, now with a total of 40,174, namely in the construction, real estate, financial services a ..read more

Everest, one Britain’s biggest double-glazing suppliers, has fallen into administration, leaving 350 jobs at risk.  The company was acquired by British venture capitalist Jon Moulton’s investment firm Better Capital over a decade ago after it required a restructuring.  Sources told Sky News‘ Mark Kleinman yesterday evening ReSolve, a professional services firm, has been appointed to handle the process and was engaged in talks to save as many jobs as possible.  Potential bidders are thought to be  “turnaround investors as well as industry players”. Information circulated by ..read more

At least we’ve got Darktrace. On the cold nights of winter, wrapped up by the fire, those of us who still care about London’s equity markets could hearten ourselves with the fact that Darktrace, a global cybersecurity leader and a British tech champion, had chosen to list in London. And now it’s leaving. It’s leaving because its board believes it wasn’t valued highly enough – and that it was trading at a discount compared to global peers. They are not the first to say this – and won’t be the last to act. In the last few weeks, a series of senior current and former Shell execs have pointed out ..read more

Aerospace and defence manufacturer Senior posted a trading update in line with expectations, largely driven by a big jump in sales for the aerospace side of its business as demand for commercial planes has boomed. Revenue rose by seven per cent in the three months ended March 2024 compared to the same time last year, when changes in currency value were excluded. The London-listed firm makes high-tech parts for planes, tanks, and power systems. Shares jumped as much as eight per cent when the market opened on Friday before retreating slightly. Aerospace revenue grew by 12% year-on-year, driven ..read more

American private equity firm Thoma Bravo has struck a $5.3bn (£4.3bn) deal to buy British cyber security company Darktrace in an all-cash transaction. The boards of directors of both companies have endorsed the deal but shareholders will have to approve it. Under the terms of the acquisition, each shareholder of Darktrace will receive $7.75 for every share they hold, marking a substantial premium on Darktrace’s recent stock performance. This premium represents a 44.3 per cent increase over the three-month average share price prior to the announcement. More to follow ..read more