Market Tracker weekly round-up—16 November 2018

Market Tracker weekly round-up—16 November 2018
Weekly round-up of the latest corporate announcements, including a formal sale process by Flybe Group plc, secondary offers by Downing FOUR VCT plc and Science in Sport plc, an IPO by Golden Saint Technologies Limited, a joint venture between Wilmington plc and The Digital Insurer PTE. Ltd, a capital reorganisation by URU Metals Limited, returns of value by Smith & Nephew plc and Great Portland Estates plc and AGM notices from Grainger plc and Bellway plc.

The weekly round-up covers all deals announced within our statement of scope until 12 noon on the Friday of the previous week. Any deals announced after this time will be included in the following day's round-up.

All transactions covered in this update are available on the Market Tracker deal analysis tool containing over 4,000 public company deal summaries.

The Market Tracker weekly bulletin looks in more detail at the latest transaction developments, mini trends and analysis of corporate deal documents. For trend reports and other analysis see our Trend Reports subtopic.

New deals announced:

AGMs

Announcement date Company Industry sector Key information
14 November 2018 Grainger plc Property Grainger announced that its 2018 AGM will be held on 6 February 2019.
9 November 2018 Bellway plc Construction Bellway has announced that its 2018 AGM will be held on 12 December 2018.

Capital reorganisations

Announcement date Company Industry sector Key information
13 November 2018 URU Metals Limited Mining, metals & extraction URU Metals has announced a proposed share consolidation whereby every 1,000 existing ordinary shares will be consolidated into one new ordinary share. The board is of the opinion that the number of shares currently in issue is considerably larger than similar sized companies on AIM, and that this is therefore having a negative effect on investor perception. The last day for dealing in the existing ordinary shares on AIM is expected to be on 20 November.

IPOs

Announcement date Issuer Industry sector Key information
15 November 2018 Golden Saint Technologies Limited Computing & IT Golden Saint Technologies announced the approval and publication of its prospectus, in connection with the admission of 995,482,002 shares to the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market. Admission is expected on 22 November 2018.

Joint ventures

Announcement date Deal Industry sector Key information
14 November 2018 Wilmington plc and The Digital Insurer PTE. Ltd Media and telecommunications Wilmington has announced that Axco, its insurance information subsidiary, has entered into a 50:50 joint venture (JV) agreement with The Digital Insurer PTE. Ltd in Singapore.
The JV, Axco Digital Insurer Ratings PTE. Ltd, will be based in Singapore and will develop a new product that will provide insurance industry participants with information on the new wave of insurance technology providers that are becoming increasingly important in the industry.

Returns of value to shareholders

Announcement date Company Industry sector Key information
16 November 2018 Smith & Nephew plc Healthcare Smith & Nephew announced  that it will commence its quarterly BuyBack Programme of 669,869 of its ordinary shares of £0.16 (US 0.20¢) each through J.P. Morgan Securities plc. Smith & Nephew intends to hold these shares in treasury and then cancel them.The maximum pecuniary amount allocated to the BuyBack Programme is £10 million.
The BuyBack Programme will commence on 19 November 2018 and will end no later than 23 November 2018.
15 November 2018 Great Portland Estates plc Property Great Portland Estates announced  its intention to repurchase up to £200 million of shares (Buyback Programme). The Buyback Programme will be subject to certain pre-set parameters and will be executed during a 12-month period from 15 November 2018 up to and including 14 November 2019, unless terminated.The maximum aggregate number of shares that will be repurchased is 42,221,384 ordinary shares.

Secondary offers

Announcement date Issuer Industry sector Key information
14 November 2018 Downing FOUR VCT plc Healthcare Downing FOUR VCT announced an offer for subscription to raise approximately £20 million in gross proceeds.
The offer opens on 14 November 2018, and closes on 5 April 2019.
14 November 2018 Science in Sport plc Travel, hospitality, leisure & tourism Science in sport announced a placing to raise approximately £29 million in gross proceeds, in connection with the company’s acquisition of PhD Nutrition Ltd. The company intends to issue 48,394,666 shares at a price of 60 pence per share. The placing shares will be offered by way of an accelerated bookbuild. The placing is not underwritten. Admission of the placing shares to trading is expected on 4 December 2018.

Takeovers

Announcement date Deal Industry sector Key information
14 November 2018 Flybe Group plc—formal sale process Travel, hospitality, leisure & tourism Flybe announced that it is conducting a strategic review to address the current challenges facing the airline industry and to maximise value for shareholders. The strategic review also includes a formal sale process.

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