The buyout consortium attempting to take the satellite operator Inmarsat (ISAT) private faces an unprecedented legal challenge from hedge funds that threatens to shake up the City. A group of speculators have acquired significant stakes in Inmarsat since it agreed to a $6bn (£4.6bn) private equity takeover led by Apax Partners and Warburg Pincus in March. At a hearing on Tuesday, they will urge the High Court not to sanction the standard legal mechanism due to finalise the deal, known as a scheme of arrangement. The hedge funds claim that Inmarsat is being sold too cheaply because it is due to open a lucrative new revenue stream if its American partner wins a crucial regulatory approval later this month.
Just Eat (JE.) has opened talks with the City’s takeover referee as expectations rise that its two suitors will face off in a rare head-to-head auction over Christmas. Sources said that representatives from the delivery giant and the Takeover Panel are in discussions to lay the groundwork if Takeaway.com and Prosus fail to submit best and final offers to investors by Dec 27. Thereafter, strict City rules stipulate that regulators will take control of a five-day auction potentially ending in sealed bids. Prosus, the Dutch arm of South African internet titan Naspers, gatecrashed Just Eat’s all-share merger with Takeaway.com by pitching a £5bn cash approach in October.
is facing a backlash against its pay plans when shareholders meet to vote on its takeover of Galliford Try (GFRD) residential business. Leading shareholder advice group ISS has raised “significant concerns” about plans to increase potential bonus payouts. ISS is recommending shareholders vote against the changes at a meeting tomorrow. The new bonus plan is being put in place as Bovis Homes transforms into the country’s fourth largest housebuilder, producing up to 12,000 homes per year. It struck a £1bn deal in November to buy Galliford Try’s Linden Homes and Partnerships and Regeneration business, having sweetened an earlier all-share offer with £186m in cash.
Questor: hold on to IMI (IMI) as the new boss unveils his ambitious targets for the business. Questor share tip: the engineering group aims to boost margins and sell off less promising parts of its business
