Investec acted as sole broker and joint sponsor to Melrose on its £8bn hostile takeover of GKN, a FTSE 100 engineering firm. The deal was one of the most fiercely-fought takeover battles in recent memory.
Melrose, a London-based firm which buys engineering businesses with potential for improvement, announced its intention to acquire GKN in January 2018 and completed the transaction by mid-April.
Rothschild (joint financial advisor and joint sponsor) and RBC (joint financial advisor) also advised on the deal.
In addition to the Melrose/GKN takeover, Investec advised on a string of deals in the first quarter of 2018, including a £105m placing for Dechra, GVC’s £7.4bn merger with Ladbrokes, Cineworld’s £2.5bn takeover of Regal Entertainment and acting as broker to Booker in relation to its takeover by Tesco.