THE DAILY BRIEFING
LEGAL FLOAT Law firm Knights Group will float on the stock market later this month in what would be London’s largest-ever legal listing, with the firm expected to be valued at more than £100m.
FEWER SACKED Finance firms laid off fewer senior staff last year in a sign that years of belt-tightening may be coming to an end, research by lawyer Fox & Partners showed.
HOLE SHRINKS The pension black hole at FTSE350 businesses shrank by £16bn last month with retirement schemes having a shortfall of £34bn, down from £50bn in April, according to consultant Mercer.
GIT GOT Microsoft is reportedly taking over computer code-sharing website Github for £5.6bn. The US firm was previously valued at around £1.5bn in 2015. TECH FUND London-based fund White Star Capital has closed a £134.5m fundraising round that will be used to help US and UK technology start-ups expand internationally.
BEAN COUNTER Breakdown group the AA has appointed former Mirror Group finance director Steve Barber, 66, to its board.
ON BOARD Steve Good, 57, the chairman of the remuneration committee at chemicals firm Elementis, will join the board of Dialight, which makes and sells LED products to industrial companies. HEDGE TRIMMED Profits at the European arm of hedge fund Caxton Associates tumbled 92pc to £7.2m last year.
FUEL OFFLOAD Airplane engine maker Rolls-Royce has sold its Germany-based fuel injector business L’Orange to Colorado-based Woodward, for £589m.
RIVAL TAKEOVER Freight management firm Xpediator is buying rival Anglia Forwarding Group for around £2.2m.
LIGHTS OUT Energy efficientlighting maker Luceco is quitting the US market as it has proved harder to break into than it anticipated. EASTERN EYE Property giant Savills has bought rival Cluttons Middle East, which has 190 staff in the region. SALES UP Revenues at retailer Matalan edged up by 2.4pc to £1.1bn last year as profits soared 26pc to £104.5m in the year to February 24.
BUILDER BOOST Research group IHS Markit said its index of activity in the construction sector – where 50 is the cut-off between growth and decline – held firm at 52.5 in May.