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Mergers & Acquisitions - 1999

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Jarvis is acquiring Trafiroad, the Belgian road marking and maintenance company, for up to £8.5m, as part of a strategy to expand its facilities management business into continental Europe.
31-Dec-1999


British Nuclear Fuels is acquiring the nuclear division of ABB of Sweden for £300m, and the business will be merged with the recently-acquired Westinghouse operation.
30-Dec-1999


Peacock & Archer, the power steering company, has been acquired by GKN Driveline, thereby securing the future of the remaining 28 jobs.
29-Dec-1999


Carlyle Insurance Brokers has acquired the Cardiff-based Johns Bowen Partnership for undisclosed terms, and will relocate its Cardiff office to form a new headquarters at the St Andrews Crescent premises of Johns Bowen.
29-Dec-1999


Tote has acquired 37 Yorkshire-based betting shops from Peter Smith Racing for undisclosed terms.
29-Dec-1999


Unilever is acquiring Rossell Industries, the Indian owner of seven tea gardens, in a £25m deal.
29-Dec-1999


Invensys has agreed to sell its automotive anti-vibration system business to Trelleborg of Sweden for £160m.
28-Dec-1999


Ebookers.com has acquired STT Airways, the Swedish travel group, for undisclosed terms.
28-Dec-1999


Bombardier is to sell its 50% stake in Shorts Missiles Systems to joint venture partner Thomson-CSF, and is also looking to sell its Bournemouth-based defence services division.
24-Dec-1999


Arena Leisure has bought Windsor Group, the owner of the Royal Windsor Racecourse, in a £14m deal.
24-Dec-1999


GKN has sold its 48% stake in Normalair-Garrett, the Somerset-based aircraft components business, to Honeywell for £73m.
24-Dec-1999


Sherwood International is acquiring Matioda, the US supplier of IT services to the insurance industry, for £12m.
24-Dec-1999


Jefferson Smurfit is planning to acquire Norcor in a £18m deal, in order to strengthen its position in the UK packaging market.
24-Dec-1999


MediaKey is to sell its training division to a management team for up to £7m, in order to focus on book packaging and publishing and to develop TV and internet operations.
24-Dec-1999


Affinity Internet has acquired Taxi Interactive, the operator of an online shopping service, for £12m, which will enable it to offer e-commerce services to its internet access customers.
24-Dec-1999


Bunzl has sold its Stewart consumer plastics business to an institutional buy-out partly funded by NatWest Equity Partners.
23-Dec-1999


Carlton Communications has sold its Solid State Logic audio mixing console business to management for £43m, and may now sell off its Technicolor video duplication and Quantel digital pixellation operations.
23-Dec-1999


Pennant International is acquiring three logistics software and documentation businesses from Solvera for £1m.
23-Dec-1999


ANS, the nursing homes operator, is to undergo a £29m management buy-out.
23-Dec-1999


Doughty Hanson is to acquire Fiat Lubricants Group of Italy for £268m, as part of the international expansion of its private equity investment business.
23-Dec-1999


Kelsey Industries, the soldering and roofing group, is to be acquired German adhesives manufacturer Henkel for £41m.
23-Dec-1999


Aquarius is acquiring Airbath International, the manufacturer of bathroom products, in a £4m deal.
23-Dec-1999


Pegasus, the business software company, has agreed a £30m takeover offer from Solution 6 of Australia, but a rival bid may be launched by Sage.
22-Dec-1999


Bass is to acquire Southern Pacific Hotel Corporation of Australia for £126m, as part of a strategy to transform itself from a brewer to an international hotel group.
22-Dec-1999


Whitecroft has sold its Whitecroft Lighting business to management for £9.2m, as part of a move to de-list its shares by the end of March.
21-Dec-1999


Williams has sold its Portuguese paints business to management for £71m, but will retain a 24% stake.
21-Dec-1999


Thompson & Morgan, the Ipswich-based seeds company, has been acquired by International Garden Products of the US.
20-Dec-1999


Cobham's FR Aviation subsidiary is to acquire National Jet Systems, the Australian operator of maritime surveillance services, for £24m.
20-Dec-1999


King Sturge is acquiring Edward Rushton, the Manchester-based plant and machinery specialist, from Capital bank for undisclosed terms.
20-Dec-1999


Photobition has acquired B&S Visual Technologies, the Glasgow-based graphics company, for £2.9m.
20-Dec-1999


National Westminster Bank has agreed to sell its NatWest Equity Partners fund management business to a management team for undisclosed terms.
18-Dec-1999


United Biscuits has recommended a £1.25bn takeover offer from a consortium backed by Danone of France, but a rival bid could come from a Nabisco-backed consortium.
18-Dec-1999


Parity is acquiring web services company Interactive Developments and training company Comtec Computer Training for a total £16m.
18-Dec-1999


Granada is planning to merge its TV rental business with Thorn's Radio Rentals, in a £1bn deal that will create a new company called Box Clever.
18-Dec-1999


Telewest and Flextech have agreed plans for a £9.6bn merger, enabling the combined group to develop a new range of TV and cable services.
18-Dec-1999


PetsMart has sold its UK chain of 92 pet superstores to Pets at Home, in a £30m deal.
17-Dec-1999


Apollo Metals has announced plans for a £52m management buy-out.
17-Dec-1999


Invensys has sold its aerospace division to Smiths Industries for £109m, and its Australian automotive casting business to Mezzanine Investments for £20m.
17-Dec-1999


MFI has sold its Hygena Packaging subsidiary to La Rochette of France for £37m.
16-Dec-1999


FKI has acquired Pinnacle, the US supplier of material handling and warehouse management systems, for £262m, and expects to benefit from opportunities provided by expanding e-commerce companies.
16-Dec-1999


Gemini is planning to acquire Eurona, the Swedish biotechnology company, for about £3m, in order to develop its research into the link between genes and diseases.
16-Dec-1999


Roxboro has acquired the Mobrey instrumentation business from Meggitt for £22m, and will combine it with its Solartron division.
16-Dec-1999


Chime Communications is to acquire Teamspirit, the financial media and advertising agency, for up to £5m.
16-Dec-1999


Boxmore, the Northern Ireland-based packaging company, has accepted a £191m takeover offer from Chesapeake of the US.
16-Dec-1999


Cambridge Water has been acquired by Union Fenosa of Spain for £54m, and this could lead to further diversification into gas and electricity supply.
15-Dec-1999


First Choice has acquired full ownership of Holiday Hypermarkets in a £45m deal.
15-Dec-1999


Dawson Holdings, the newspaper and magazine wholesaler, has acquired eight new businesses for £26m, including subsidiaries of Johnsons Group and BFG, in order to expand its customer base and geographic coverage.
15-Dec-1999


RC Edmondson has undergone a management buy-out, leading to the creation of EMG Holdings which will operate Ford franchises in Bury St Edmunds, Thetford and Spalding.
14-Dec-1999


Cookson is to acquire Ethone-OMI, the US speciality chemicals company, for £310m, as part of a strategy to become a one-stop shop for manufacturers of printed circuit boards.
14-Dec-1999


Invensys has sold its DCE dust control business to Donaldson Company of the US for £33m.
14-Dec-1999


Smiths Industries has acquired Sabritec, the US manufacturer of electronic connectors, for £32m.
14-Dec-1999


National Insurance & Guarantee Corporation, the motor and commercial insurance company, has been acquired by Winterthur of Switzerland for £120m.
13-Dec-1999


Pex, the sock manufacturer, has been bought out of receivership by Finnwear of Finland for about £1m.
13-Dec-1999


Xpertise is planning to acquire Direct Computer Training, the operator of government-funded IT courses, for an initial £5m.
13-Dec-1999


Hogg Robinson has sold its Advizas independent financial advice division to Towry Law for £16m.
11-Dec-1999


WS Atkins has acquired Benham, the Oklahoma-based architectural company, for £32m, which will increase its US headcount from 60 to 800.
11-Dec-1999


NetBenefit, the provider of internet domain names, has acquired NetNames in a £20m deal, and has also announced plans to raise £3.3m in a share placing.
11-Dec-1999


Golden Vale has sold its Leckpatrick Dairies agri-trading business in Northern Ireland to Holden Agriculture.
10-Dec-1999


Hanson has acquired two US companies - aggregates producer Olin Jones Sand and sand producer Brewer - for a total £34m.
10-Dec-1999


Peterhouse, the construction services company, is to acquire Eve, the access systems hirer, for £40m.
10-Dec-1999


InfoSys, the Swindon-based software company with 30 employees, has been acquired by German information management company Teamwork for undisclosed terms.
09-Dec-1999


Kwik-Fit has acquired Silver Shield Screens, the automotive glass repair and replacement company, for an initial £6m.
09-Dec-1999


Lyndale Foods has sold the Bolton-based van sales operation of its Hunts Bakery Foods division to South Wales-based Peter's Food Service for undisclosed terms.
09-Dec-1999


Cymap, the Bristol-based developer of building services software, has been acquired by Graphisoft of Germany for undisclosed terms.
09-Dec-1999


Eversheds has merged with Boekel De Neree, the Dutch law firm with 250 staff.
09-Dec-1999


Informa has bought a portfolio of business magazines from Pearson for £13m, including titles such as New Media Markets and Mobile Communications.
09-Dec-1999


Cordiant Communications has acquired Interactive Edge, the New York-based marketing company, for an initial £3.8m.
09-Dec-1999


Alexon has acquired control of the 144-strong chain of Bay Trading clothes shops, in a £13m deal.
08-Dec-1999


Waddington, the packaging and printing group, has received a £318m agreed bid from John Mansfield, and a takeover battle could now develop.
08-Dec-1999


AC Nielsen has acquired MMS Market Movements, the direct mail monitoring company.
07-Dec-1999


Romeike, the media monitoring company, has been acquired by Sifo Group of Sweden for £110m.
07-Dec-1999


Anite has announced the acquisition of two software companies - Orbis for £1.2m and Opentur for £2.1m.
07-Dec-1999


PNC Telecom has acquired Leeds-based call centre Talking Ads and information helplines provider Arena Online Services for a total £7m.
07-Dec-1999


White Young Green has bought the consulting engineering business of Irish company Gibson O'Connor, and will create a new subsidiary called White Young Green Ireland.
06-Dec-1999


Anchor International is to merge with Powerplay Supersoccer in a £54m deal supported by 3i, and the new group will set up 10 more football centres throughout the country over the next two years.
06-Dec-1999


Sanderson Group, the computer services company, is to undergo a management buy-out, in a £114m deal backed by Alchemy Partners.
04-Dec-1999


Integralis is planning a £171m merger with Articon of Germany, in order to create one of Europe's leading IT security providers.
04-Dec-1999


Macfarlane is selling its Daniel Montgomery spirit bottle closures operation to Alucapvit Spa of Italy for £2m.
03-Dec-1999


WPP has acquired Hiller Wust & Partners, the German public relations company, for undisclosed terms.
03-Dec-1999


Primetime Pet Foods has acquired Pascoe's for undisclosed terms, in order to expand its pet food distribution business.
02-Dec-1999


Richardsons Westgarth, the steel stockholder, has agreed to a £25m takeover from German-owned ASD.
02-Dec-1999


Goodfellow & Egan, the Cambridge-based typesetting company with 50 staff, has been bought by London-based reprographics firm Potts.
02-Dec-1999


The Post Office is acquiring Citipost Group, the New York-based document delivery company, for £25m.
02-Dec-1999


AstraZeneca and Novartis of Switzerland are to merge their agricultural chemicals operations, creating a new company called Syngenta that will be the world's biggest crop protection group.
02-Dec-1999


Alumasc has sold Express Heat Treatments, the Midlands-based automotive castings business, to Controlled Heat Treatments for undisclosed terms.
01-Dec-1999


Perfect Pizza has been acquired by Papa John's of the US for £20m, and the 205 Perfect Pizza outlets will be converted to the Papa John's format.
01-Dec-1999


Lysaker Travel Management, the Bristol-based business and leisure travel agency, has been acquired by Ian Allen Travel.
01-Dec-1999


Applied Holographics, the supplier of holographic products to the packaging industry, is acquiring Optical Security of the US for £40m.
01-Dec-1999


Worthington is selling 56% of Nottingham Braid and all of its industrial threads division to their management teams for a total £2.2m.
01-Dec-1999


News Communications & Media has bought the Hampshire Chronicle and three other local newspapers from Jacob & Johnson for £16m.
01-Dec-1999


Galaxy Media is to acquire Gaming Internet for £40m in order to transform itself into an internet-based gambling and games business, while its Mike Mansfield Television subsidiary will be sold off.
01-Dec-1999


HP Bulmer has bought American Hard Cider Company for £19m, in order to provide a platform for growth in the US.
01-Dec-1999


Booker is acquiring the Trademarket cash and carry business from Alldays for £7.3m.
30-Nov-1999


Dixons has acquired Elkjop, the Norwegian electrical retailer, for £444m, and hopes it will lead to the launch of some of its UK-based chains in Norway and Sweden.
30-Nov-1999


Affinity Internet has acquired the internet-based games company GamesZone for undisclosed terms, and has also announced plans to raise £19m in a share placing.
30-Nov-1999


Yorkshire Group is to acquire the dyes business of CK Witco for £54m, which will give it market leadership in the US and a manufacturing base in continental Europe.
30-Nov-1999


Infobank is to sell Internet Software Corporation to management for £6.5m, in order to focus on electronic procurement technology.
30-Nov-1999


Evans Concrete, the Derbyshire-based concrete company, has undergone a management buy-out for undisclosed terms, and expects to create 10 new jobs.
29-Nov-1999


Rapsons Coaches is to acquire Caithness-based Dunnet Coaches for undisclosed terms, as part of an ongoing expansion at its Highlands bus business.
29-Nov-1999


Barlows, the Chester-based property developer, is acquiring Hallamshire Investments for £12m.
29-Nov-1999


Bullough has raised £13m from the sale of two engineering operations - MHH Engineering and SEM - and is now looking to sell its Morley industrial motors business.
29-Nov-1999


Hanson is planning to acquire Pioneer International, the Australian aggregates group, for about £1.5bn.
29-Nov-1999


Schroder Ventures has acquired Expand Sante, the French provider of marketing services for pharmaceutical companies, in a £35m deal.
29-Nov-1999


Money Controls, the manufacturer of coin-handling mechanisms, is being acquired by Coin Acceptors of the US for £86m.
27-Nov-1999


Benchmark Building Supplies has acquired Bolton-based Crompton Building Supplies, in order to expand its business in the Greater Manchester area.
26-Nov-1999


SP Systems, the Isle of Wight-based manufacturer of composite materials, has been acquired by Zoltek of the US.
26-Nov-1999


GEC is acquiring the Public Networks Division of Germany's Robert Bosch for £90m, in order to gain access to more markets in central Europe.
26-Nov-1999


Daily Mail & General Trust is to acquire Bristol United Press for £121m, in order to expand its regional newspaper business.
26-Nov-1999


United News & Media and Carlton Communications have announced plans for a merger, in order to create the largest ITV broadcaster with six franchises and a market valuation of £8bn.
26-Nov-1999


Clugston Construction has acquired Ferro Monk Systems, the Yorkshire-based drainage specialist, for undisclosed terms.
25-Nov-1999


Sportsworld Media is to acquire Australian Media Holdings for £22m, in order to expand its TV and sports sponsorship business in the Asia-Pacific region.
25-Nov-1999


Unilever has acquired Amora Maille, the French manufacturer of mustard and culinary products, for £460m.
25-Nov-1999


MY Holdings, the packaging company, has accepted a takeover offer from Malbak of South Africa that values the company at £164m.
25-Nov-1999


Test Valley Water has acquired the water business of the Robinson Group, which includes the Eden Valley Mineral Water Company in Cumbria, for about £15m.
24-Nov-1999


Johnston Press is to acquire Tweeddale Press, the publisher of three weekly newspapers in the Borders.
24-Nov-1999


Invensys has sold its US automotive fluid handling division to Cooper Tire & Rubber for £150m, as part of a strategy to focus on automation and controls.
24-Nov-1999


Alliance UniChem is acquiring a 20% stake in Galenica, the Swiss drugs wholesaler, for £65m, as part of a strategy to build up a European-wide distribution service.
24-Nov-1999


Tibbett & Britten is acquiring the Dutch transport operations of the Remijsen group as well as Californian distributor EFL Transportation, as part of a strategy to develop its core markets in Europe and North America.
23-Nov-1999


Thames Water is to acquire E'town, the US supplier of water services in New Jersey, in a £575m deal.
23-Nov-1999


Caradon is to sell its 94% stake in Weru, the German doors and windows business, to management for £78m, in order to focus on plumbing, aluminium extrusions, electrical products and cheque printing.
23-Nov-1999


BG is to acquire Tesoro Bolivia Petroleum for £62m, as part of a strategy to build up an integrated gas business in South America.
23-Nov-1999


Lambert Fenchurch is to merge with Heath in a £135m deal that will create a new company called HLF Insurance Holdings.
23-Nov-1999


Halifax's life insurance division Clerical Medical has acquired Lands Improvement, the agricultural property group, in a deal that values the company at £42m.
20-Nov-1999


Semara Holdings is selling its utility services division to management for up to £37m.
20-Nov-1999


Smallshaw Precision Plastics, the injection moulding company, is to be bought out of receivership by its management, saving 30 jobs.
20-Nov-1999


Gordon Ellis & Co has acquired Langham Products, the Somerset-based manufacturer of safety equipment, and will relocate the Langham business to its headquarters in Castle Donington.
20-Nov-1999


Torex has acquired Moss House, the Mosborough-based supplier of EPOS systems, in a £12m deal.
20-Nov-1999


Premier Nutrition Products has acquired Vitamealo, the Avonmouth-based animal feed supplement company, from Dalgety for undisclosed terms.
20-Nov-1999


Clubhaus has completed the acquisition of Invicta Leisure's golf division for £12m, which includes three prestigious clubs in Berkshire, Kent and Buckinghamshire.
20-Nov-1999


London Bridge Software is acquiring LenStar, the US provider of networking services for the mortgage market, for £9m.
19-Nov-1999


Invensys has acquired Best Power, the US manufacturer of uninterruptible power supplies, for £145m.
19-Nov-1999


Scapa is selling its specialist materials business to a bid backed by Duke Street Capital for £37m.
19-Nov-1999


Radio Victory, the Portsmouth-based local radio station, has been bought by the Local Radio Company in a £4m deal.
18-Nov-1999


Pascon, the Hampshire-based plant hire company, has undergone a £17m management buy-out and is changing its name to Selwood Group.
18-Nov-1999


Invensys has sold its Australian-based business that produces engineered polymers for the car industry to Austrim Nylex for £42m.
18-Nov-1999


Tunstall, the Leeds-based supplier of personal security equipment, has been acquired by Mercury Private Equity for £102m.
18-Nov-1999


KCS Management Systems, the developer of personnel software, has undergone a management buy-out for undisclosed terms.
17-Nov-1999


Irlandus Circuits, the Craigavon-based electronics company, has undergone a management buy-out from its US parent company SMTEK International for undisclosed terms.
16-Nov-1999


Hanson is acquiring two US companies for £45m - aggregates producer BR DeWitt and concrete producer Superior.
16-Nov-1999


WS Atkins has acquired Yeoman & Edwards, the quantity surveying practice, for £1.3m.
16-Nov-1999


Fletcher Research, the London-based internet analysis group, has been acquired by Forrester Research of the US for more than £10m.
16-Nov-1999


Phillips, the fine-art auction house, has been acquired by LVMH of France for a sum thought to be about £70m.
16-Nov-1999


Jarvis Porter has agreed to sell its electronic labelling division to a management team backed by NatWest Equity Partners for £65m.
13-Nov-1999


Blacks Leisure is to acquire the Outdoor Group, the sports and outdoor clothing retailer, for £51m.
13-Nov-1999


Wardle Storeys, the manufacturer of inflatable life-saving equipment, is to undergo a £114m management buy-out with the backing of Alchemy Partners.
13-Nov-1999


Rykneld Tean, the Derby-based manufacturer of packing tapes, has undergone a management buy-out from parent company Autoliv of Sweden.
13-Nov-1999


Vodafone AirTouch has bought Scottish Power Telecommunications, a mobile joint venture between Scottish Power and Martin Dawes Telecommunications, for £13m.
12-Nov-1999


Hercules Property Services is acquiring Deacon Insurance Services, the residential property insurance intermediary, for £14m.
12-Nov-1999


Energis has acquired EnerTel, the Dutch telecoms operator, from WorldPort of the US for £352m.
12-Nov-1999


Celltech has acquired Medeva for £554m, which will enable the company to distribute its pharmaceutical products through its own salesforce rather than licensing them.
12-Nov-1999


P Summerfield, the Willenhall-based forgings company, has been bought out of receivership by a management team for undisclosed terms, saving about 50 jobs.
11-Nov-1999


Chubb has acquired FSE Systems, the Nottingham-based fire protection company, for undisclosed terms.
11-Nov-1999


Sutherlands, the Edinburgh-based stockbroker, is set to be acquired by CCF-Charterhouse of France in a £15m deal.
11-Nov-1999


CGU has acquired Dutch insurer Nuts Ohra for £122m, and has also announced the formation of a joint venture with Societe Generale in Romania.
11-Nov-1999


Tempus has acquired Added Value, the marketing agency that employs 250 people in seven offices around the world, for up to £35m.
11-Nov-1999


Kingfisher is acquiring Hugo Van Praag, the Belgian electrical retailer, for up to £20m.
11-Nov-1999


Cordiant Communications is to acquire Healthworld, the US marketing group, for £113m.
10-Nov-1999


Brands Hatch Leisure, the motor racing circuits group, is to be acquired by Interpublic in a £120m deal, as part of a strategy by the US advertising group to build up a sports marketing business.
10-Nov-1999


RMC has launched a £896m takeover bid for the Rugby cement group, which will strengthen its position in the UK and Poland and add a presence in Australia.
09-Nov-1999


Emap is selling 13 business magazines and seven exhibitions to Informa for £28m.
09-Nov-1999


Davis Service has acquired Midland Laundry Group, the supplier of laundry and operating theatre services, for £30m.
09-Nov-1999


Merant is acquiring EnterpriseLink Technology, the enterprise software supplier, for $22m.
09-Nov-1999


Mid Kent Holdings is to acquire Inenco, the cost control consultancy, for £11m, in order to reduce its dependence on the water industry.
08-Nov-1999


Granada Media Group has acquired Brecon-based BlackCat, an educational software company, for undisclosed terms, as part of a strategy to build up a leading educational and online business.
06-Nov-1999


Darwell Fabrications, the Tamworth-based precision engineering company, has undergone a £10m management buy-out.
06-Nov-1999


Lambert Howarth is acquiring Fast Forward Holdings in a £20m deal that will create a leading supplier of shoes and fashion accessories to Marks & Spencer.
06-Nov-1999


Tarmac has agreed a £1.2bn takeover bid from Anglo American, the South African mining company, and the combined group will seek acquisitions in continental Europe.
06-Nov-1999


Culver Holdings is acquiring BMS Greenstock, the London-based commercial and personal insurance company, for £0.5m.
05-Nov-1999


Luminar is to acquire 20 nightclubs and seven bars from Allied Leisure for £34m, and the sites will be converted into Chicago Rock Cafes, Liquid nightclubs, and Rhythm Room restaurants.
05-Nov-1999


CGU is to take full control of Hibernian Group in a deal that values the Irish life assurer at £336m.
05-Nov-1999


Sun Life & Provincial is to sell its Irish life assurance business to Royal Liverpool Assurance for about £86m.
05-Nov-1999


Gladstone has acquired Torstar, the e-commerce company, for £1.5m, as part of a strategy to transform itself from a glazing contractor to a software group.
05-Nov-1999


Kingspan has sold Ratby-based Bennett Windows and Cannock-based Thomas Lowe Joinery to a management buy-out for £4m.
04-Nov-1999


Associated British Foods has bought six animal feed mills from Dalgety for about £10m.
04-Nov-1999


Lionheart, the housewares company, is selling its operating businesses to management for £6.3m.
04-Nov-1999


Hartington Conway of Coventry has acquired Ritchlight, the manufacturer of architectural rooflights, for undisclosed terms.
04-Nov-1999


Birse has sold the Aberdeen-based engine refurbishment division of its plant hire subsidiary to Rentair for £2.5m.
04-Nov-1999


Palgrave Brown has acquired the Allan Brothers joinery business in Berwick from Rugby Group for £2.7m.
04-Nov-1999


Hays has acquired IT contractor Hutchinson Smith and delivery service Cannon Couriers for about £46m.
04-Nov-1999


Crompton Lighting, the Yorkshire-based manufacturer of lamps, has been sold by NatWest Equity Partners to Cooper Industries for £67m.
03-Nov-1999


Camms Coaches has sold its contract hire business to management, and the new company will operate 16 vehicles and trade as Contract Coaches of Nottingham.
02-Nov-1999


Associated British Foods is acquiring Rohm Enzyme, the food enzymes company, from Degussa-Huls of Germany for undisclosed terms.
02-Nov-1999


Aggregate Industries has reorganised its US aggregates business by acquiring Golden's of Colorado for £37m and by selling Commercial Products of North and South Carolina to RMC for £7m.
02-Nov-1999


Tamaris has sold its main nursing home assets to Omega Worldwide of the US, following the failure of a rescue plan that would have given Tamaris a £6m equity injection.
02-Nov-1999


Morgan Crucible is acquiring VAC, the high-performance magnets company, from Siemens of Germany for £114m, as part of a strategy to reinvest the proceeds of the £180m sale of its chemical products business.
02-Nov-1999


Wolseley has sold its boiler and burner business to Industri Kapital of Sweden for £87m, which will involve the transfer of 250 employees at Nu-Way in Droitwich.
02-Nov-1999


Dart Group, the road and air cargo company, has acquired Coolchain of Kent from Credit Agricole Indosuez for £14m.
02-Nov-1999


Charter is selling its specialist engineering division to the Candover venture capital group for £194m, including rail support systems, environmental control systems, and workspace environments.
01-Nov-1999


McKechnie has sold its consumer products operations in the UK, US and Europe, to Newell Rubbermaid of the US for £81m, and the proceeds will be used to reduce debt.
30-Oct-1999


Tamdown, the Braintree-based groundworks contractor with 300 employees, has undergone a management buy-out.
30-Oct-1999


Daily Mail & General Trust has acquired Riddell Exhibition Promotions, the Australian show organiser, for undisclosed terms.
29-Oct-1999


Tilbury Douglas has sold its Hevilifts jacking and propping business to Hydratight Sweeney for undisclosed terms.
29-Oct-1999


Bradstock is to sell its personal financial planning business to Berry Birch & Noble for £0.5m.
28-Oct-1999


PHS Group is to acquire Jardinerie Interiors, the supplier of plants to businesses, for £6.6m.
28-Oct-1999


Stagecoach is to sell Swebus to Concordia Bus Sweden for £100m, in order to refocus its bus operation on the US and Asia.
28-Oct-1999


Flare Group has sold kiln-maker Bricesco and drying equipment manufacturer Thermic Designs to Longton-based Ceramic Drying Systems in a £1.5m deal.
27-Oct-1999


Taylor & Francis has acquired Martin Dunitz, the London-based publisher of medical books and journals, for £11m.
27-Oct-1999


CGU is to sell its Greek life assurance business to Aspis Pronia for undisclosed terms, and Aspis will distribute CGU's investment products in Greece.
27-Oct-1999


Exchange Holdings is acquiring Money World, the personal finance web site, for £9m, and expects to follow this up with other acquisitions.
27-Oct-1999


Deverill Group, the Poole-based supplier of computer support services with 130 staff, has been acquired by CTG Holdings.
26-Oct-1999


Airsprung Furniture has acquired Cornwall-based traditional bed maker Enchanted House in a £0.5m deal.
26-Oct-1999


Travis Perkins is acquiring Sharpe & Fisher for £76m, in order to strengthen its chain of builders merchants in the west of England and south Wales.
26-Oct-1999


Metrodome is planning to acquire Home Entertainment, the video marketing company, for £1m.
26-Oct-1999


Shire Pharmaceuticals is acquiring the French, Italian and German subsidiaries of Fuisz Technologies of the US for £24m, as part of a strategy to build up a global drug development business.
25-Oct-1999


Tarmac has acquired Moffatts, the operator of quarries in the west of Northern Ireland, for £6m.
25-Oct-1999


Texon, the Leicester-based shoemaking materials company, has bought Claravon of Australia from Clarks Shoes Australia for undisclosed terms.
23-Oct-1999


Queensbury International, the Portsmouth-based manufacturer of bus shelters, has been bought out of receivership by its management, saving 60 jobs.
23-Oct-1999


Cookson is acquiring US printed circuit boards company Dexter Corporation for £20m, in order to provide a wider range of products to its customers.
23-Oct-1999


United Biscuits is selling its frozen and chilled foods business to Heinz of the US for £190m, and the proceeds will be invested in its snacks operation.
23-Oct-1999


Granada is to acquire the Harry Ramsden's chain of fish and chip restaurants for £20m, and plans to roll out the brand in its service stations throughout the country.
23-Oct-1999


Independent Radio Group is to be acquired by the Wireless Group in a £21m deal.
22-Oct-1999


Avon Rubber has sold CQC, the Barnstaple-based body armour business, to management for £3.1m.
21-Oct-1999


Bowthorpe is selling its Havant-based Wessex Advanced Switching Products business to management for £2.2m.
21-Oct-1999


Thomson Brothers of Kirkcaldy has acquired King & Company of Darlington, creating a combined architectural ironmonger business with 300 staff at 18 locations.
21-Oct-1999


Withey Group of Borehamwood has acquired contractor CJ Smith in order to complement its construction and shopfitting business.
21-Oct-1999


Hays has sold three food ingredients businesses to a new company called Braes Group for £22m, and Braes is planning to build up a £200m food group with the backing of 3i.
21-Oct-1999


CMG has acquired Eurasoft, the French supplier of IT systems to insurance companies, for £3.3m.
21-Oct-1999


Vitec has bought the Vega wireless intercom business in the US from Telex Communications for £1.9m.
21-Oct-1999


Taylor Nelson Sofres has bought Scan-Fact Marketing, the Norwegian supplier of market information.
21-Oct-1999


GEI International, the processing machinery supplier, is planning to sell its pharmaceuticals division to Metallgesellschaft of Germany for £22m, and the proceeds will be used to reduce debt.
21-Oct-1999


Rugby Group is to merge its US building materials supplies business with Huttig, a subsidiary of Crane, and the new company will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
21-Oct-1999


Orange is to be acquired by Mannesmann for £18bn, as part of the German group's strategy to become a major force in European telecoms.
20-Oct-1999


Northern Leisure is buying the nightclubs division of Rank Group for £150m, which will expand its chain to 125 nightclubs with a 5% market share.
20-Oct-1999


PAF Systems, the Northamptonshire-based manufacturer of product handling equipment, has undergone a £5.2m management buy-out, and now aims to expand into continental Europe.
19-Oct-1999


Johnson Fry, the retail fund management company, has accepted a £42m takeover offer from Legg Mason of the US.
19-Oct-1999


WPP is to acquire BWR Public Relations of the US for undisclosed terms.
19-Oct-1999


Virgin Cinemas has agreed to sell its chain of 34 multiplex cinemas in the UK and Ireland to Union Generale Cinematographique of France for £215m.
19-Oct-1999


Nettec has acquired Point4, the e-commerce software company, for £5m.
18-Oct-1999


Stateside Foods has acquired Tolona Pizza Products of Skelmersdale for £10m.
16-Oct-1999


Brownhills of Newark has bought Madisons, the Blackpool-based motorhomes distributor, for undisclosed terms.
16-Oct-1999


Rexam has sold its Bowater Windows business to a management buy-out led by Legal & General Ventures for £120m, in order to focus on consumer packaging.
15-Oct-1999


The Post Office is acquiring Williames Group, the Irish parcel and logistics business, through its recently-acquired German Parcel division for £10m.
14-Oct-1999


Soco International is selling its sole remaining UK asset - an oil production and exploration licence in the Weald basin - to Star Energy for £11m.
14-Oct-1999


Invensys is selling its paper technology division to Apax for £491m, as part of a strategy to focus on automation and controls.
14-Oct-1999


James Latham is to sell its timber and building supplies operation to Grafton for £8m, in order to focus on timber importing and distribution.
14-Oct-1999


White Young Green has acquired Tilney Simmons for £2.3m, in order to expand its mechanical and electrical consulting business in the south of England.
14-Oct-1999


Stanley Leisure has acquired the Annabelles Casino Group, which operates casinos in Bristol, Coventry and Leicester, for £7m.
13-Oct-1999


Denton Hall is to merge with Wilde Sapte to create the UK's ninth largest law firm with about 800 lawyers.
13-Oct-1999


BP Amoco is to sell Plaspack Kunststoff, the plastic webbing business, to A&H Jodl Besitz of Austria for undisclosed terms, as part of a strategic review of its petrochemicals portfolio.
13-Oct-1999


Williams is acquiring two Norwegian fire protection companies - Norfass and Heien-Larssen - from Eltek for £17m.
13-Oct-1999


Apion, the Belfast-based telecoms software company, is to be acquired by Phone.com of the US in a $263m deal.
12-Oct-1999


Granville, the independent investment bank, has been acquired by Robert W Baird of the US for £37m, and will be renamed Granville Baird in preparation for an expansion across Europe.
12-Oct-1999


Racal Electronics has sold its telecoms business to Global Crossing of the US for £1bn, and some of the proceeds will be used to expand its industrial electronics and transportation services businesses.
12-Oct-1999


AEA Technology has sold Analytical Services Group to Harwell Scientifics, a subsidiary of Atesta, for £2.2m.
12-Oct-1999


Blue Circle is selling its heating division to Baxi Partnership for £480m, and has also announced the acquisition of a controlling stake in Heracles Cement of Greece for £388m.
11-Oct-1999


Delancey Estates, the property company, is planning a £150m joint venture with the JER International investment fund in order to clear the way for its takeover of Milner Estates.
11-Oct-1999


WPP has acquired The Brand Union, the parent company of the advertising and branding business Lambie-Nairn.
09-Oct-1999


Direct Line is to acquire the Green Flag vehicle recovery business from Cendant for £220m, and will combine it with its Direct Line Rescue operation.
09-Oct-1999


Branston Potatoes has acquired GA Bowskill, creating the largest potato packing business in the country.
09-Oct-1999


Co-operative Wholesale Society has bought six Scottish food shops from Penny's of Perthshire, for undisclosed terms.
09-Oct-1999


Tadpole Technology has acquired Conic Systems, the developer of mapping software, for £0.8m.
09-Oct-1999


Express 2 Automotive, the Durham-based manufacturer of precision components for the car industry, has undergone a £2.5m management buy-out from the Express Group.
09-Oct-1999


Pelikan Scotland, the Turriff-based manufacturer of printer accessories, has undergone a £10m management buy-out.
09-Oct-1999


John Wallwork Group, the Altrincham-based car leasing and fleet management company, has been acquired by Associates Fleet Services.
09-Oct-1999


Toomey Hire & Leasing has acquired Skyway Leasing, the Chester-based vehicle leasing company, for about £6m.
09-Oct-1999


Churchill Insurance has acquired Devitt Insurance, the London-based personal lines broker, from SBJ Group for undisclosed terms.
08-Oct-1999


GAP Group has acquired Munro Tool Hire of Elgin for undisclosed terms.
08-Oct-1999


WS Atkins has acquired Ventron Technology, the Stockport-based process engineer, for £2.3m.
08-Oct-1999


Aggregate Industries has acquired Concrete Services, the US concrete supplier, for £12m.
08-Oct-1999


Colourcare, the Wiltshire-based supplier of photograph development services to retailers, has undergone a £55m management buy-out with the backing of Gresham Trust.
08-Oct-1999


Norcros, the building materials and chemicals supplier, has agreed a £171m management buy-out.
07-Oct-1999


Miller Group is to acquire Cussins Property Group for £23m, as part of the Edinburgh-based company's strategy to expand its housebuilding business throughout the country.
06-Oct-1999


Camloc Gas Springs of Leicester has been acquired by US automotive parts company Arvin Industries, and will be renamed Arvin Motion Control.
05-Oct-1999


Wragge & Co has acquired the Neil F Jones firm of Birmingham to create one of the country's largest construction law practices.
05-Oct-1999


Sanderson of South Yorkshire has acquired Creative Microsystems, the US developer of local and state government information systems, for £1.5m.
05-Oct-1999


ICI is selling its acrylics business to Ineos and Charterhouse Development Capital for £505m, which will involve the transfer of 15 manufacturing sites and 2,000 employees.
05-Oct-1999


William Baird has acquired the Limehaus men's fashion brand in a £2m deal, as part of a strategy to reduce its reliance on sales to Marks & Spencer.
05-Oct-1999


Moss Bros has acquired the three Brand Centre discount fashion stores for £2m, and plans to transform it into a nationwide chain.
05-Oct-1999


P&O is selling its Bovis construction business to Lend Lease of Australia for £285m, having decided not to proceed with plans for a flotation.
05-Oct-1999


Silvermines is planning to sell its security manufacturing and distribution business to Bewator of Sweden for about £5.6m.
05-Oct-1999


GKN's Sinter Metals division has bought Borg-Warner Automotive's powdered metals business in the US.
05-Oct-1999


Tarmac has acquired Situsec, the Greenwich-based asphalt company, for £9.5m.
04-Oct-1999


Barclays is selling its Transpay foreign currency processing business to a joint venture of Travelex and the Royal Bank of Scotland for about £25m.
04-Oct-1999


P&O has sold the Earl's Court and Olympia exhibition halls in London to the owners of the Business Design Centre and the Candover buy-out fund for £183m.
02-Oct-1999


Ocwen, the mortgage lender, has undergone a £510m management buy-out with the backing of Royal Bank Development Capital.
02-Oct-1999


Sainsbury is acquiring Hampden, the owner of the Homebase franchise in Ireland, in a £18m deal.
02-Oct-1999


Sun Valley Foods has acquired Fields International, the import and distribution company, in order to strengthen its supply chain.
02-Oct-1999


Primagraphics, the Royston-based manufacturer of graphics equipment, has undergone a £3.4m management buy-out.
01-Oct-1999


Bennetts, the Nottingham office products company, has bought the business of James Hardwood, the recently-liquidated Derby company.
01-Oct-1999


Jones Stroud, the owner of Coventry-based name-tag maker J&J Cash, has agreed to sell the group to management for £33m.
01-Oct-1999


SciMAT, the Swindon-based manufacturer of high performance battery separators, has been acquired by Crane & Co of the US.
01-Oct-1999


SLD Genlite, the Leeds-based plant hire company, has merged with SLD Pumps and Chiller Rental Services in a £80m management buy-in deal backed by NatWest Equity Partners.
01-Oct-1999


ICI is selling its fluoropolymers business to Asahi Glass of Japan for £83m, which will involve the transfer of 400 employees at plants in Lancashire and the US.
01-Oct-1999


Scottish Radio Holdings has bought Angus County Press, the Forfar-based publisher of local newspapers, for £4.2m.
01-Oct-1999


Tarsus Group is acquiring Off-Price Specialist Centre, the US clothing exhibitions and magazine company, for an initial £4.8m.
01-Oct-1999


Kerry Group is acquiring two food ingredients businesses from Andre of Switzerland for £50m - Shade Foods in the US and Speciality Food Ingredients in Europe.
01-Oct-1999


P&O has sold its Australian services businesses to Eurest and Spotless Services for a total £120m, in order to focus on ports and ferries.
01-Oct-1999


Eliza Tinsley has sold its Belcot tool business to management for £3m, and is now looking for acquisitions to expand its sub-assembly range for off-highway vehicles.
01-Oct-1999


Carclo Engineering is selling Lee Steel Strip to Avesta Sheffield for £21m, in order to focus on the growing market for techno-plastics.
01-Oct-1999


HiGene Brewery Products, the Chesterfield-based supplier of beer pumps, has undergone a management buy-out with the backing of venture capital group Murray Johnstone.
30-Sep-1999


British Vita has acquired Elian, the French specialist colour concentrates company, for £17m.
30-Sep-1999


Ennstone's Natural Building Materials subsidiary is to acquire Burford Quarrying of Oxfordshire for £4m.
30-Sep-1999


Azurix has acquired Lurgi Bamag, the German engineering company, in a £18m deal, as part of a strategy to build up an international water business based on Wessex Water.
29-Sep-1999


Eastern Counties is acquiring magazine publisher Market Link Publishing for £4.8m.
29-Sep-1999


Aquarius is acquiring Brampton Housewares, the bathroom cabinet manufacturer, for £6.2m.
29-Sep-1999


Day & Nite is acquiring Heagneys, the Teesside-based chain of nine convenience stores.
28-Sep-1999


Wagon is acquiring the remaining 80% of Aries Structures, the French car doors supplier, for £77m.
28-Sep-1999


Bunzl has acquired Brierley-Almond, the Manchester-based distributor of disposable products, for a sum thought to be about £20m.
28-Sep-1999


Whitbread has acquired Racquets & Healthtrack group for £78m, and will rebrand the six fitness clubs under the David Lloyd Leisure name.
28-Sep-1999


Incepta has acquired Image, the Singapore-based public relations company, for £3m.
28-Sep-1999


Amtrak has acquired Nightspeed, the express parcels company, for £31m.
27-Sep-1999


Lovell White Durrant is to merge with Boesebeck Droste of Germany to create the fourth largest law firm in Europe.
27-Sep-1999


Hallam Polymer Engineering has acquired H Slater & Son, the Sheffield-based polyurethane and rubber specialist, and will relocate the company to its site in Dronfield.
25-Sep-1999


Elequip Projects, the Leicester-based electrical engineering company, has undergone a £5.5m management buy-out from parent company Silvermines Group.
25-Sep-1999


Ocean Group has acquired Parkhill Reclamation, the Midlands waste management company, in a £41m deal that will double the landfill bank of Ocean's Cory Environmental Management subsidiary.
25-Sep-1999


Riva Group, the supplier of electronic point of sale software, is being acquired by Anker of Germany for £42m.
25-Sep-1999


Cawoods has sold three of its Northern Ireland businesses for undisclosed terms, with Cawoods Coal being bought by Kingsbury Fuels, Cawoods Oil by DCC Energy, and HEAT by RBM Associates.
24-Sep-1999


Yorkshire Building Society has sold its sharedealing operation to TD Waterhouse for £9.6m, and the US company is now planning to launch its internet stockbroking business in the UK.
24-Sep-1999


Britton's Plastics, the Midlands car parts company, has been bought out of receivership by Fletchworth Group, saving 100 jobs.
23-Sep-1999


Teddington Bellows is to merge with Brockington & Scott to create a leading manufacturer of specialist expansion joints and bellows assemblies, employing about 150 people in South West Wales.
23-Sep-1999


Geest is acquiring Cinquieme Saison, the French salads supplier, for up to £16m.
23-Sep-1999


Pascon has sold its Palmers scaffolding division to Thyssen UK for up to £30m.
23-Sep-1999


Prepco Foods, the vegetables supplier, has acquired Selfresh Salads, and Selfresh will be relocated to a purpose built factory next to Prepco in Skelmersdale.
23-Sep-1999


Leeds Group has acquired Calprina, the textile printing business, from Crowson Fabrics for undisclosed terms.
23-Sep-1999


McBride has acquired Wrafton Laboratories, the Devon-based manufacturer of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, for £22m.
23-Sep-1999


Axis-Shield is planning to acquire Medinor, the Norwegian medical products distributor, for £4.5m.
23-Sep-1999


Foyle Meats' Hilton Food joint venture with RWM Food has acquired the processing and packaging business of Dutch retailer Albert Heijn, and plans to invest £7m in the Amsterdam butchery.
23-Sep-1999


4Front Technologies is acquiring CVSI, the US computer consultancy, for £16m.
23-Sep-1999


SVB Holdings is to merge with the CLM Insurance Fund in a £127m deal that will create one of the leading Lloyd's insurance vehicles.
22-Sep-1999


JSB Software Technologies is to buy the US internet access software business SurfWatch for £18m.
22-Sep-1999


RPC has bought Cresstale, the supplier of lipstick containers, out of receivership for £8m, securing 420 jobs at the Teesside plant.
22-Sep-1999


Gladstone is to acquire Microcache, the supplier of software systems and membership cards to the leisure industry, for £8m.
22-Sep-1999


Ryland Group is buying Corner Coventry, the Ford dealership, out of receivership for £1.6m.
22-Sep-1999


Magna Exterior Systems, the Swindon-based provider of spray painting services to car manufacturers, has undergone a management buy-out and will be renamed Automotive Coatings.
21-Sep-1999


Webgrove Holdings has acquired Arnold Plastic Moulding Tools from Kettering-based Alumasc Group for undisclosed terms.
21-Sep-1999


Haden MacLellan is planning to sell its process engineering division to its US management, in order to focus on the manufacture and distribution of fasteners.
21-Sep-1999


Rolls-Royce is to acquire Vickers for £576m in order to become a world leader in marine power systems.
21-Sep-1999


National Westminster Bank is to sell the Hawkpoint corporate finance acquisitions business to its 100 staff for undisclosed terms.
20-Sep-1999


Doncaster Pharmaceuticals, the distributor of pharmaceutical products to retail chemists, has undergone a management buy-out for undisclosed terms.
18-Sep-1999


S Lyles, the Dewsbury-based carpet yarn manufacturer, is to undergo a management buy-out in a £3.6m deal.
18-Sep-1999


Close Brothers is set to acquire Warrior Group, the provider of financial services to the armed forces, for about £21m.
18-Sep-1999


Intercare is acquiring European Pharmaceuticals from Groenwoudt Beheer of the Netherlands for £25m, which will almost double its turnover.
18-Sep-1999


First Choice has acquired Sunsail International, the operator of sailing holidays, for up to £40m.
18-Sep-1999


Senior is acquiring the aerospace ducting division of Cork Industries for £52m.
18-Sep-1999


Layton Blackham has acquired Chelmsford-based insurance broker Ford Loft Group for undisclosed terms, as part of a strategy to become the leading regional broker in the country.
17-Sep-1999


Addis, the Swansea-based houseware products company, is to be acquired by Emsa of Germany.
17-Sep-1999


British Steel is to acquire the rail manufacturing business of Usinor of France for £83m.
17-Sep-1999


Bensons Crisps is acquiring the healthy snacks business of London-based K Foods for up to £1.8m.
17-Sep-1999


DMS and Media Lane, the two Leeds-based advertising businesses, have agreed a £75m merger to create a combined media buying group called Brilliant Independent Media Specialists.
16-Sep-1999


Ainscough has acquired Plant Installations, the Glasgow-based machinery removal company, for undisclosed terms.
16-Sep-1999


Tarmac has bought Marley Paving, the concrete block and paving business, from Brussels-based Etex for £26m.
16-Sep-1999


Cleveland Papers and Euro Wallcoverings of Peterlee have undergone a £1.1m management buy-out, securing the future of about 50 jobs at the two plants.
15-Sep-1999


Stortext, the Edinburgh-based information management company, has sold its paper storage business to Britannia Data Management for £10m.
15-Sep-1999


Scottish & Newcastle has agreed to acquire Greenalls' pubs, budget hotels and restaurants for £1.1bn, leaving Greenalls to focus on fitness clubs and the two remaining hotel divisions.
15-Sep-1999


NFC is to sell its Allied Pickfords removals business to US private equity group Clayton Dublier & Rice, as part of a strategy to focus on logistics and project management.
15-Sep-1999


Simon Group is selling its Australian engineering joint venture with Siemens for £3.4m, and is looking to acquire port services companies in France, Spain and Germany.
15-Sep-1999


Hill Hire, the truck rental company, is to be acquired by the Bank of Scotland in a £74m deal.
15-Sep-1999


Synstar is to acquire Lancare, the Bristol-based computer network supplier, in a £12.5m deal.
14-Sep-1999


Poole Car Centre, the Dorset-based Mitsubishi dealership, has been acquired by the Winchester Motor Group.
14-Sep-1999


Photobition has acquired Meteor, the Detroit-based graphics company, for £2.5m, and is now looking to build up a national network in the US.
14-Sep-1999


CGU is acquiring Gan Canada from Groupama of France for £56m, in order to expand its Canadian insurance business.
14-Sep-1999


Ocean is acquiring Parkhill Reclamation for £41m in order to expand its waste management business.
14-Sep-1999


Dalehead Foods is to merge with Roach Foods in a £150m deal that will create a combined meat processing business called Flagship Foods.
13-Sep-1999


Highland Distillers is set to go private in a £700m acquisition by two private Scottish companies - Edrington and William Grant.
11-Sep-1999


Rolls-Royce is to acquire National Airmotive, the US engine repair company, for £45m, as part of a strategy to expand its engine repair and overhaul business.
11-Sep-1999


BP Amoco has acquired APEX, the French solar electric company, and will combine the business with its BP Solarex division.
10-Sep-1999


Church & Co, the manufacturer of traditional shoes, has agreed a £106m takeover bid from Prada of Italy.
10-Sep-1999


United Biscuits is acquiring Stollwercke, the Hungarian biscuit company, for £18m.
10-Sep-1999


Hewden Stuart has acquired Elmore Plant Services, the Mitcham-based subsidiary of Wates Construction, for £7.4m.
09-Sep-1999


Vickers is to acquire Reumech, the South African-owned manufacturer of military vehicles, for up to £12m, and is also forming joint ventures with Mowag, Singapore Technologies, and Krauss Maffei Wegmann.
09-Sep-1999


Internet Technology Group is set to be acquired by Concentric Network of the US for £146m.
09-Sep-1999


GEC has sold its NNC nuclear consulting division to a management buy-out for undisclosed terms, and British Nuclear Fuels is acquiring a small stake.
09-Sep-1999


Macfarlane is acquiring Western Foam Packaging Products of the US for £5m, and has also announced the reorganisation of its 15 businesses into four divisions.
08-Sep-1999


Cranswick is to acquire Pethick & Co, the Hull-based ham manufacturer, for about £15m.
07-Sep-1999


Hoseasons, the supplier of boating and cottage holidays, has undergone a £22m management buy-out, and is now expected to expand into continental Europe.
07-Sep-1999


Oriflame International, the cosmetics marketing company, has confirmed plans for a £263m management buy-out.
07-Sep-1999


Granada Media has acquired Letts Educational, the textbook publisher, from BPP Holdings for £28m.
06-Sep-1999


Interior Services Group has acquired Care Services, the facilities management company, for up to £12m.
04-Sep-1999


Baldwins Industrial Services is to acquire Phillips Crane & Rigging of the US for £7.8m.
04-Sep-1999


Go-Ahead is to acquire Metrobus, the Orpington-based bus operator, in a £15m deal.
04-Sep-1999


ISA International is to sell its Heath commercial stationery business to Kaye Office Supplies for £20m.
04-Sep-1999


Brockbank Group is to sell its two motor insurance operations - Admiral of South Wales and Zenith of West Sussex - to management buy-outs, in order to focus on areas such as marine and art insurance.
04-Sep-1999


CSL Group, the Leicester-based business machine supplier, has undergone a management buy-out and expects to create 15 new jobs.
03-Sep-1999


Whitecroft has sold Leaderflush & Shapland, the Nottingham-based safety doors business, to management for £14m.
03-Sep-1999


Heywood Williams has acquired BCE Cellular Extrusions, the supplier of PVCu building products, from Rugby Group for £11m.
03-Sep-1999


Coats Viyella has succeeded with its £80m takeover bid for Hicking Pentecost, the industrial threads manufacturer, thus beating a rival offer from Ruddick of the US.
03-Sep-1999


Prudential-Bache International of the US has acquired Matheson Investment, the London-based stockbroking firm, from Jardine Matheson for undisclosed terms.
03-Sep-1999


Petroline WellSystems, the Aberdeen-based oilfield services company, has been acquired by Weatherford International of the US for £104m.
03-Sep-1999


Diploma is to sell its electronic component distribution business to Avnet for £37m.
03-Sep-1999


James Halstead has sold its Driza-Done clothing division in Australia to Outback Consortium for £2.1m, and the proceeds will be used to expand its floorcoverings business.
03-Sep-1999


Gaskell is to acquire Tomkinsons, the carpet company, for £11m, and closures at the combined group's 10 plants have not been ruled out.
03-Sep-1999


Cadbury Schweppes has agreed the sale of its South African soft drinks business to Coca-Cola for £153m.
03-Sep-1999


Bett Brothers has sold its precast concrete division to the Hillhead Quarry Company for £1.1m.
02-Sep-1999


Domestic & General, the insurance company, has acquired Teega Agencies, the customer promotions company, for £0.9m.
02-Sep-1999


Select Appointments is to be acquired by Vedior of the Netherlands for £1.14bn, creating the third largest staffing agency in the world.
02-Sep-1999


Henlys is to acquire Blue Bird Corporation, the US school bus manufacturer, for £267m, prompting speculation that Volvo is about to bid for Henlys.
02-Sep-1999


Britannia Building Society has sold its life assurance business and 75% of its asset management division to Britannic, in a £346m deal.
02-Sep-1999


Cadbury Schweppes is linking up with Carlyle Group to acquire Dr Pepper Bottling Company of Texas for £432m, in order to create the largest independent bottler in the US.
02-Sep-1999


Vodafone Distribution is to acquire UniqueAir, the mobile phone service provider, from Unipart for about £50m.
02-Sep-1999


Aortech is to acquire the Yorkshire-based heart valve business of Tissuemed for up to £1m.
02-Sep-1999


Reed Print & Design has acquired carton producer Kelly Packaging of Gateshead, and the company hopes to create up to 250 jobs by expanding its business in domestic and international markets.
01-Sep-1999


BCB International, the Cardiff-based manufacturer of outdoor pursuit products, has sold its camping division to Simpson Lawrence, in order to focus on its core military and commercial marine markets.
01-Sep-1999


AM Paper, the Lancashire-based tissue company, is to be acquired by SCA of Sweden for £192m.
01-Sep-1999


De La Rue is to sell its smart cards business to Francois-Charles Oberthur of France for £200m.
01-Sep-1999


Hanson is to acquire the European brick operations of Boral for £59m, in order to strengthen its business in Poland, Germany and the Netherlands.
01-Sep-1999


Television Corporation is to buy Mentorn, the independent production company, and is now seeking additional UK acquisitions.
01-Sep-1999


WH Smith is to acquire Wayland, the publisher of books for school libraries, through its Hodder Headline subsidiary.
01-Sep-1999


Whatman is to acquire Cambridge Molecular Technologies, the DNA purification company, for £4m.
30-Aug-1999


Rainey Kelly Campbell Rolfe, the advertising agency, has been acquired by Young & Rubicam of the US for undisclosed terms.
28-Aug-1999


Roxspur is selling Aylesbury Automation to Textron Fastening Systems of the US for £7m, and the proceeds will be used to reduce debt.
28-Aug-1999


Desire Petroleum is to merge with Gaelic Resources of Ireland to create a £24m oil group, and the move will reduce Desire's dependence on the Falkland Islands.
28-Aug-1999


Norbain, the security equipment group, has undergone a £38m management buy-out, and is now seeking acquisitions to build up a global business.
28-Aug-1999


Christie Group has acquired Vision Associates, the Staffordshire-based designer of internet kiosks, for £0.3m.
28-Aug-1999


Richardsons Westgarth is to sell Steel Supplies and Armstrong Plate to a new company called Fantastic Addition for £2.2m.
28-Aug-1999


BP Amoco is to sell a US fibres business to Monitor Clipper Partners for £62m, so that its Amoco Fabrics division can focus on polypropylene fabrics.
28-Aug-1999


Sports Internet has acquired Surrey Group for £20m, as part of a strategy to build up an online betting business.
27-Aug-1999


British Telecom is acquiring Yellow Book USA for £430m, and could go on to set up a global franchise in the telephone directories business.
27-Aug-1999


Alexon has acquired Style Holdings, the men's wear retailer, for £31m, and is also buying out its joint venture partner in the Dolcis chain of shoe shops for £14m.
27-Aug-1999


Blagden is to sell Corn Van Looke, its Belgium-based industrial chemicals division, to a new company called Valofin for £2.1m.
27-Aug-1999


United News & Media has acquired MP&A Editorial, the New York-based magazine publisher, for £1.4m, through its Miller Freeman PSN subsidiary.
27-Aug-1999


Telewest Communications has acquired the remaining 50% of Cable London from Cable & Wireless Communications for £428m.
26-Aug-1999


Cabot Square Capital has acquired The Money Store UK from First Union Corporation of the US for about £325m, in order to expand its high-risk consumer lending business.
26-Aug-1999


WPP has acquired Mediaquest Sarl, the French advertising agency, for undisclosed terms.
26-Aug-1999


Transport Development Group is acquiring Van Straaten Beheer, the Dutch logistics company, for £10m.
26-Aug-1999


Kean Kennedy, the Scottish quantity surveyor, has been acquired by Corderoy.
26-Aug-1999


Red Bank, the Derbyshire-based clay tile manufacturer, has acquired Weatherwell Roof Tile for undisclosed terms.
26-Aug-1999


Sifam has sold its Torquay-based plastic trade moulding division to a management team for £2.4m.
25-Aug-1999


Bowthorpe is planning to sell its thermal management business to Aavid Thermal Technologies of the US for £50m, as part of a strategy to focus on telecoms testing and aerospace.
25-Aug-1999


ICCS, the Dundee-based kitchen and catering supplies business, is to merge with MacGregor & Company of Edinburgh in a £3m deal, and a new head office will be set up in Grangemouth.
24-Aug-1999


Silentnight is selling Wellhouse Wire Products, the spring making business, to Legget & Platt for £10m, in order to focus on bed manufacturing.
24-Aug-1999


Body Shop International has sold its two Littlehampton-based factories to Pac Creative of South Africa for £6.8m, in order to focus on retailing and product innovation.
24-Aug-1999


Misys has acquired Financial Options Group for £40m, in order to become a leading supplier of support networks to independent financial advisers.
24-Aug-1999


SSL International is acquiring Silipos, the US skin products company, for £20m.
24-Aug-1999


Focus Dynamics, the engineering company, has rejected a £5.3m takeover bid from Breckenburn, and has also received expressions of interest from other companies.
23-Aug-1999


Townsley & Co, the private client stockbroker, is to be acquired by Dutch bank Insinger de Beaufort for undisclosed terms.
23-Aug-1999


Taylor & Francis is to acquire the international journals business of Universitetsforlaget for up to £4.4m.
21-Aug-1999


Liberfabrica, the Bath-based book manufacturer, has been acquired by Chevrillon Philippe Industrie of France for £36m, putting an end to plans for a management buy-out.
21-Aug-1999


Albert Fisher has sold three seafood businesses based in Belgium and Denmark to the Dutch venture capital group Gilde Buy-Out Fund for £21m, in an ongoing effort to reduce debt.
21-Aug-1999


Airtours is acquiring 155 German travel agencies from Metro's Real Group in a £9.4m deal made by Frosch Touristik, the tour operator in which Airtours has a 35% stake.
21-Aug-1999


Hydraulic Equipment Supermarkets, the Gloucester-based hydraulics company, has undergone a £2m management buy-out.
20-Aug-1999


Saxonmill of Batley is to merge with Nicol & Pratt of Meltham near Huddersfield, in order to save 100 jobs and fight off competition in the textile dyeing and finishing market.
20-Aug-1999


Laird has sold its US packaging business to Gulf States Paper for £44m, as part of a strategy to focus on car seals and computer components.
20-Aug-1999


WPP has acquired Shire Hall Group, the healthcare communications consultancy with annual turnover of about £4m.
20-Aug-1999


P&O is selling Laing Property of Canada to Cambridge Shopping Centres for £206m, and is now looking to float its Bovis construction business and sell its Earl's Court Olympia exhibitions business.
20-Aug-1999


NTL is to acquire Workplace Technologies for £81m, in order to improve its networking capability and offer a one-stop communications service to corporate clients.
20-Aug-1999


Radius Professional, the Cardiff-based supplier of accountancy software, has been sold to a management team for undisclosed terms.
19-Aug-1999


Bramhall is to acquire Magic Moments Design, the London-based internet service provider, for £10m.
19-Aug-1999


Coca-Cola Beverages is to merge with Hellenic Bottling Company of Greece in a £2bn deal that will create the second largest Coke bottler in the world.
19-Aug-1999


Paramount Hotels is to acquire Scottish Highland Hotels for £38m, thereby gaining five hotels in Scotland and two in northern England.
19-Aug-1999


Helphire is acquiring 1st Automotive, the supplier of credit hire services, and taking full control of Rescue Car Rental, in a deal worth up to £10m.
18-Aug-1999


Enic is to acquire Gibraltar-based Victor Chandler International for up to £70m, in order to benefit from the rapid growth in the offshore betting market.
17-Aug-1999


National Express has acquired Durham Transportation, the US school bus operator, for £109m, thereby gaining 5,600 vehicles in 14 states.
17-Aug-1999


Pubs 'n' Bars is spending £8.7m on a series of acquisitions that will expand its estate from four to 51, including the reverse takeover of both Real Leisure and Acorn Inns.
17-Aug-1999


RMC is spending £63m on a series of acquisitions to expand its concrete and aggregates business in the US, Malaysia and Northern Ireland, as well as two sand and gravel operations in Leicestershire.
17-Aug-1999


Bishop & Robertson Chalmers is merging with Alex Morrison to create one of the top five law firms in Scotland.
17-Aug-1999


Stead & Simpson is acquiring Peter Briggs, the Leicester-based chain of 40 shoe shops, for undisclosed terms.
16-Aug-1999


Snapper Music is to undergo a £9m management buy-out, and is planning to set up a US office and develop its internet music business.
16-Aug-1999


First Leisure is to sell its family entertainment business to Allied Leisure and Duke Street Capital for £111m, including bowling centres, the Trecco Bay caravan site, and the Snowdome ski slope in Tamworth.
16-Aug-1999


WPP is to acquire IntelliQuest, the US-based information provider, for up to £28m.
14-Aug-1999


Sytner is to acquire Ixion Motor, the Oxford-based car retailer, for £13m, in order to add new franchises and develop its relationship with Jaguar.
14-Aug-1999


Sun Life & Provincial is selling the life assurance business of Guardian Royal Exchange to Aegon of the Netherlands for £759m, and the enlarged company will be run from Aegon's existing facilities in Edinburgh.
13-Aug-1999


Cornhill Insurance has acquired DBI, the pet healthcare insurer, from Generali of Italy.
13-Aug-1999


Frederick Cooper is acquiring Stevensons of Shipley, the Bradford-based household products manufacturer, for £0.3m.
12-Aug-1999


Guardian iT is planning to expand its French computer disaster recovery business by buying Twinsys Dataguard and Twin-X, as well as Strategia Europe, for £5m.
12-Aug-1999


Irish Continental, the Irish shipping group, has acquired two travel companies operating from London for a total £3.7m - Tara Travel and Gerry Feeney Travel.
11-Aug-1999


Mears is acquiring Haydon, the building maintenance company, from Johnson Controls of the US for up to £6m.
11-Aug-1999


Blakes Clothing has sold Casanova Fashions, which has 16 outlets, to Sizecheck for £1.8m.
11-Aug-1999


Hartford Group has announced terms for a £30m merger with the Montana chain of London restaurants.
11-Aug-1999


Serco has acquired Elekluft, the supplier of support services to German military customers, from Dasa for £18m.
11-Aug-1999


United News & Media has sold a number of UK and French publishing operations from its recently-acquired CMP division to VNU for £2.5m.
11-Aug-1999


Unilever is selling Van Den Bergh Continental Bakeries, the Australian frozen pastries business, to Diageo's Pillsbury division for undisclosed terms.
11-Aug-1999


Tomkins has acquired Hayden's, the Wiltshire-based patisserie maker, for undisclosed terms.
11-Aug-1999


ATL Consulting Group, the Southampton-based engineering consultancy, has been acquired by Bureau Veritas of France for undisclosed terms.
10-Aug-1999


Invensys is acquiring UK Data Collection Services for £38m and Com-Trol of the US for £14m, as part of a strategy to expand into software and services.
10-Aug-1999


Burmah Castrol has sold its molten aluminium operation to Pyrotek of the US for £12m, as part of a strategy to sell non-core assets and focus on the Castrol brand.
10-Aug-1999


Meyer International is to acquire Graham Group, the builders' merchant, for £269m, which will lead to the loss of about 150 administrative jobs.
09-Aug-1999


Building & Property Group is selling its Unicorn Consultancy Services division to management for £37m.
09-Aug-1999


British Telecom has linked up with AT&T to acquire a one-third stake in the Canadian cell phone company Rogers Cantel Mobile Communications for £581m, and BT is also acquiring a stake in AT&T Canada at a cost of £249m.
06-Aug-1999


One-2-One is to be acquired by Deutsche Telekom for £8.4bn, which will give the German company its first foothold into the UK mobile phone market.
06-Aug-1999


Kunick is to acquire Circa Leisure for £10m, to create a leading local authority health and fitness company managing 107 leisure centres.
06-Aug-1999


United News & Media is acquiring Definitive Stock, the US online stock photography company, for £3.8m, and will combine the business with its Visual Communications subsidiary.
06-Aug-1999


British Steel has acquired Laminacion y Derivados, the Spanish steel business, for £19m.
05-Aug-1999


Unigate has acquired Broadlands Dairy, the small Hampshire-based dairy, for undisclosed terms.
05-Aug-1999


Semple Cochrane is acquiring Glasgow-based Advanced Computer Installations for up to £2.2m, and is also expanding its marine engineering business with a 10-year lease on ship-repair and conversion facilities at Penzance.
05-Aug-1999


TI Group is acquiring Busak & Shamban, the German-owned speciality seals group, for £275m.
05-Aug-1999


Bovis is acquiring Tanvec, a Surrey-based consultancy that designs building work for the pharmaceutical industry.
05-Aug-1999


Newby Foundry Division is to merge its Newby Hill Top Foundry Airset business with Rudge Littley of West Bromwich, to create a combined iron founding group with turnover of about £9m.
04-Aug-1999


Williams Fasteners of Sheffield has acquired Coalville Phoenix Fasteners for £0.1m, in order to expand its branch network into the Loughborough area.
04-Aug-1999


Meyer International has acquired Tudor, the tile distribution company, in a £12m deal.
04-Aug-1999


Apollo Leisure, the operator of 27 theatres, has been acquired by SFX Entertainment of the US for £162m.
04-Aug-1999


Universal Bulk Holdings, the tank container maker, has been bought out of receivership by a team of 90 former workers.
04-Aug-1999


Newport WaferFab has been saved from administration by a £100m management buy-out, which will secure 500 jobs at the south Wales semiconductor factory.
04-Aug-1999


Firth Rixson is acquiring Aurora, the Sheffield-based metal engineer, for £80m, in order to create a leading supplier of parts to the aerospace sector.
04-Aug-1999


Kvaerner is selling most of its UK metals manufacturing business to Union Electric Steel of the US for £15m, but will retain its Sheffield production facilities.
04-Aug-1999


Dawson International has sold its JE Morgan thermal underwear business in the US to Sara Lee for £60m, in order to reduce debt and focus on its cashmere products.
04-Aug-1999


Bovis Construction has acquired WR Adams, the US healthcare facilities group, for undisclosed terms.
04-Aug-1999


Genus is acquiring ABS Global, the US cattle breeding company, from Protein Genetics for undisclosed terms.
04-Aug-1999


Blacks Leisure has bought Sports Shop, the Fife-based sports retailer with 28 outlets, for £1.1m, and will refurbish the shops under its First Sport brand.
03-Aug-1999


Holmes Place has acquired Citygreen du Leman, the Swiss health and fitness club operator, for £3.4m.
03-Aug-1999


Financial Objects, the banking software company, has acquired Global Financial Systems for an initial £10m.
03-Aug-1999


Financial Dynamics, the public relations company, is being acquired by Lighthouse Holdings of the US for about £40m.
03-Aug-1999


NFC is selling its Isotrack in-cab communications business to management in a £4.5m deal, and the proceeds will be invested in its logistics business.
03-Aug-1999


Senior is acquiring Pathway Bellows, the US manufacturer of expansion joints, for £22m, as well as Hydro-Flex of Canada for £2m.
03-Aug-1999


Taylor Nelson Sofres has has acquired NIPO, the Dutch market information group, for £13m.
03-Aug-1999


Swankies, the Arbroath-based seafood company, is undergoing a £1.8m management buy-in, which is expected to lead to an expansion of its factory and the creation of new jobs.
02-Aug-1999


Carbo, the Manchester-based abrasives company, has sold its Polybau drainage division to Wavin Plastics in a £1.9m deal.
02-Aug-1999


Barlo is selling its Stanley Smith PVC film business to Klockner Pentaplast of Germany for £4.5m.
31-Jul-1999


Pearson has acquired Thomson Financial Securities Management from Thomson Corporation of Canada for £94m, in order to strengthen its position as a leading supplier of securities pricing.
31-Jul-1999


Cadbury Schweppes has completed the sale of its soft drinks operations in 155 countries to Coca-Cola for £443m, and other countries are expected to follow once regulatory approval is given.
31-Jul-1999


JR Industries, the Cardiff-based manufacturer of vehicle roller shutters and railway carriage interiors, has been sold to management in a £12m deal.
30-Jul-1999


Corgi Classics, the model car maker, is being acquired by Zindart of Hong Kong for £29m.
30-Jul-1999


Joseph Dunn Group has sold its wholesale soft drinks division to a management team, and the new business will aim to become a leading player in the market for drinks in small plastic bottles.
29-Jul-1999


Severn Trent has acquired four US waste and water companies for a total £55m, including Samsco, Tetra Processes, Precision Laboratories, and Savannah Laboratories.
29-Jul-1999


Mayflower is selling Dennis Eagle, the manufacturer of refuse vehicles, as well as Douglas Equipment and Schopf to Natwest Equity Partners for £31m.
29-Jul-1999


Syltone has acquired Priestmar Equipment, the hydraulic access platforms company, for about £3.5m.
29-Jul-1999


BSS is planning to acquire PTS, the supplier of heating and plumbing products, for £56m.
29-Jul-1999


Reckitt & Colman is to merge with Benckiser of the Netherlands in a £5bn deal that will create a world leader in household cleaning products, and the new group will be called Reckitt Benckiser.
28-Jul-1999


British Telecom has taken full control of BT Cellnet by acquiring the remaining 40% from Securicor for £3.1bn, which will enable BT to bid for one of the next-generation mobile phone licences next year.
28-Jul-1999


Caradon is set to acquire Easco, the US aluminium extrusions company, for about £100m.
28-Jul-1999


Ocean Group is to acquire Mark VII, the US freight brokerage, for £142m, and is now seeking air and sea freight acquisitions in Europe.
28-Jul-1999


Kewill Systems has acquired Aristo Research and Aristo Computers for £12m, in order to expand its US e-commerce business.
28-Jul-1999


Kingfisher has confirmed the acquisition of Screwfix, the mail-order and internet DIY business, for about £75m.
28-Jul-1999


Birkby is to merge with Mentmore Abbey, the storage space company, in order to benefit from the growing trend among European companies to outsource property-related activities.
28-Jul-1999


AEA Technology is to merge its nuclear services operations with those of British Nuclear Fuels, to create a joint venture company with sales of about £150m a year.
28-Jul-1999


Shire Pharmaceuticals is to acquire Roberts Pharmaceutical of the US for £570m, and is now looking at ways to increase sales in continental Europe.
27-Jul-1999


IAWS is to acquire Delice de France, the London-based supplier of French pastries to UK catering companies, for up to £35m.
27-Jul-1999


William T Eden, the Kent-based panel products distributor, has been acquired by Sylvan International of Doncaster for about £15m.
27-Jul-1999


Wolseley has bought four companies for a combined £46m in order to expand its building and plumbing products business, including two in the US, one in Italy and one in the UK.
27-Jul-1999


Smith & Nephew is to acquire Exogen, the US manufacturer of ultrasound devices, for £40m.
27-Jul-1999


Norwich Union is to acquire the Spanish insurance business British Life from Scottish Provident for undisclosed terms.
27-Jul-1999


Daily Mail & General Trust is acquiring the Zoom online shopping site from Arcadia for £15m, and will promote the business in its newspapers.
27-Jul-1999


NTL is buying Cable & Wireless Communications' residential cable assets for £8.2bn, while Cable & Wireless is buying the remaining 47% of CWC in a £6.5bn deal.
27-Jul-1999


Talk Radio is to acquire The Radio Partnership, which includes nine local music radio stations, for £42m.
26-Jul-1999


SignCorp is to merge with Sign Investments of Leeds in a £3.9m deal, in order to create a combined signmaking business that will float on Aim next month.
26-Jul-1999


JBA is to be acquired by Geac Computer of Canada for £92m, as part of Geac's strategy to expand into the European business software market.
24-Jul-1999


Forward Technology Industries, the machinery manufacturer, is to undergo a £9.2m management buy-out.
24-Jul-1999


Lawrence Automotive of Nottingham is being acquired by a new company called Interior Technologies for £12m, in order to build up a new business making luxury trims for car manufacturers.
23-Jul-1999


Simon Brooke & Partners, the Leeds-based insurance broker, has acquired the bus and coach division of transport insurance specialist BMS Chapman Stevens.
22-Jul-1999


Ellis & Everard has acquired Allegro Chemicals of Ireland, in order to consolidate its position as one of Ireland's leading chemical distributors.
22-Jul-1999


Vymura, the wallpaper company, has agreed to a £29m takeover offer from Gleadway.
22-Jul-1999


Invensys has sold Rieth, its German cable support systems business, to Van Geel of the Netherlands for £7.5m, in order to focus on automation and controls.
22-Jul-1999


Close Brothers is acquiring Rea Brothers Group, the private banking concern, for £47m, which will take it into offshore banking and trust management for the first time.
22-Jul-1999


First Group is acquiring Ryder Public Transportation Services, the US operator of school buses, for £603m, and similar acquisitions are expected to follow.
22-Jul-1999


British Airways has won government approval for its £75m bid for CityFlyer Express, on the condition that it limits its take-off and landing slots at Gatwick airport.
21-Jul-1999


Policy Master is acquiring Media Maker, the internet design group, for up to £3.4m.
21-Jul-1999


Future Network has acquired Weka Consumer Medien, the German magazine publisher, for £8m.
21-Jul-1999


Clares Equipment is set to acquire Calderburn, the office furniture group, for £27m.
21-Jul-1999


Punch Taverns has agreed to acquire Allied Domecq's 3,500 pubs and 50% share of the First Quench off-licence business for £2.75bn.
21-Jul-1999


Blue Circle is acquiring Iligan Cement of the Philippines for £32m, as part of an ongoing expansion in east Asia.
21-Jul-1999


Merant is acquiring Marathon, the US internet service provider, for £9.6m.
21-Jul-1999


Expamet is acquiring a steel lintel and doors business from Diploma for £17m.
21-Jul-1999


Isotron is to acquire Steris, the US medical products sterilisation company, for £71m.
21-Jul-1999


Arriva has acquired Ideal Auto, the Spanish bus operator, for £16m, and will use it as a base for further expansion in Spain.
20-Jul-1999


Rugby Group is to sell its joinery operations in the UK and Australia to Jeld-Wen of the US for £86m, and the proceeds will be used to reduce debt and expand its cement business.
20-Jul-1999


Le Riche, the Channel Islands-based retail group, has sold its car dealership operations to Five Oaks Garage for £10m.
20-Jul-1999


Vodafone AirTouch is to acquire CommNet Cellular, the US mobile phone operator, for £493m, in order to gain 360,000 customers in nine states.
20-Jul-1999


Lilleshall has sold its plastic housewares business to Crystalware for £1.2m, as part of a strategy to focus on industrial services.
20-Jul-1999


Seven Group, the Leeds-based design and advertising agency, is to merge with local rival CWG.
19-Jul-1999


Riverside Engineering Services, the Dundee-based pipework and general fabrication company, has been acquired by a management team for undisclosed terms.
19-Jul-1999


CrestaCare, the nursing homes and healthcare group, is returning to private ownership in a £70m deal backed by venture capitalist Alchemy Partners.
17-Jul-1999


PowerGen is increasing its stake in Gujarat Torrent, the Indian electricity company, from 28% to 74% at a cost of £159m.
17-Jul-1999


Cookson is acquiring Plaskon Electronic Materials, the supplier of plastics to the semiconductor industry, from BP Amoco for £78m.
16-Jul-1999


Booker has sold its Marine Harvest McConnell salmon farming business to Nutreco of the Netherlands for £33m, and is now looking to sell its Booker Tate and Fletcher Smith sugar-related subsidiaries.
16-Jul-1999


Sears has sold the Adam's children's wear chain of 325 shops to management for £87m.
16-Jul-1999


Plasmon is acquiring Cygnet Storage Solutions of the US for £2.3m, in order to expand its storage disk range.
15-Jul-1999


WS Atkins has acquired Richard Long Associates, the water industry consultancy.
15-Jul-1999


Meek Group, the Bristol-based plant hirer, has undergone a £21m management buy-in with the backing of 3i and Barclays Bank.
15-Jul-1999


Clugston Construction has acquired GL Quine, the Doncaster-based civil engineer, for undisclosed terms.
15-Jul-1999


Punch Taverns is to acquire Inn Business for £69m, as part of a strategy to become a leading pub operator.
15-Jul-1999


Anglian Water is acquiring the Czech water company Severomoravske Vodovody for £50m, and is expected to follow this up with similar deals in other eastern European countries.
15-Jul-1999


Adare Printing is acquiring Kall Kwik, the franchised printing company, for £10m.
15-Jul-1999


Electra Investment Trust has sold the publishing division of the Stationery Office to Meadowpoint, a vehicle created by Apax Partners, for £82m.
15-Jul-1999


Ferguson International has sold its Hindson print services division to Elanders Graphics for £6.8m and the BPC graphic design division to Brian Reed for £1.8m.
14-Jul-1999


Computer Cab is acquiring Datacab for an initial £1.3m, in order to create a combined radio taxi group with more than 3,100 drivers.
14-Jul-1999


Alpha Airports has sold DynAir, its US ground handling division, to Swissair for £100m, in order to focus on the expansion of its airport catering and retailing operations.
14-Jul-1999


Orbis is acquiring Sitex, the property protection company, from Mercury Private Equity for £18m.
14-Jul-1999


Forward Industries, the Swindon-based manufacturer of equipment for the nuclear power and hydraulics industries, has been sold to management in a deal funded by NatWest Development Capital.
13-Jul-1999


Charles Crookes & Jones has merged with Phoenix Walters to create a combined Cardiff-based legal practice with 46 staff.
13-Jul-1999


Wassall has sold DAP, the adhesives and sealants manufacturer, to RPM of the US for £180m, and is now looking to spend up to £350m on engineering acquisitions in the US and Europe.
13-Jul-1999


Shell's Montell subsidiary has sold a stake in its Don & Low polypropylene textile business to Thrace Plastics of Greece, as part of a strategy to focus on polyolefins.
13-Jul-1999


Xenova is to sell MetaXen, its US-based drugs software business, to Exelixis Pharmaceuticals for £0.2m.
13-Jul-1999


Secure Trust Banking Group is acquiring Weinel & Partners, the London fund manager, for up to £3m.
13-Jul-1999


Royal & Sun Alliance is to acquire Orion Capital Corporation for £900m, in order to double the size of its US insurance business.
13-Jul-1999


BOC has agreed a £7.2bn joint takeover bid from Air Liquide of France and Air Products of the US, which will result in the group being broken up along geographical lines.
13-Jul-1999


Cookson is to sell TAM, its ceramic powders manufacturing business, to Ferro Corporation of the US for £50m.
12-Jul-1999


Clifford Chance has agreed to merge with Rogers & Wells of the US and Punder Volhard Weber & Axster of Poland in order to create a combined law firm with more than 2,700 lawyers.
12-Jul-1999


Johnson Matthey is selling its electronic materials business to AlliedSignal of the US for £420m, and may use the proceeds to acquire the precious metals and catalysts operations being sold by Degussa-Huls.
10-Jul-1999


Electra Investment Trust has sold its PHS hygiene services business to rival venture capitalist Charterhouse Development for £215m.
10-Jul-1999


Wassall has sold its Antler luggage business to management for £40m.
10-Jul-1999


AFOS International, the Aberdeen-based filtration equipment company, has been sold to management for £8.5m.
09-Jul-1999


Arcadia is acquiring Sears' women's clothing chains for £151m, including Richards, Wallis, Warehouse, and Miss Selfridge, and 77 of the Richards stores will be closed or sold off.
09-Jul-1999


CRH is acquiring Thompson-McCully, the US aggregates and asphalt supplier, for £218m, in order to gain a base in the mid-west.
09-Jul-1999


NSB Retail Systems is planning a £38m merger with Unlimited Solutions of the US in order to double the size of its business supplying software solutions to the retail industry.
09-Jul-1999


Brent International, the speciality chemicals company, has agreed to a £82m takeover offer from Chemetall of Germany.
09-Jul-1999


JWE Telecom has acquired Advanced Digital Telecom, the Leeds-based fixed line specialist, for up to £3m, which will enable the company to offer a wider range of systems with a single billing facility.
08-Jul-1999


Peterhouse is acquiring ESS, the Wellingborough-based safety equipment and training company, for £3m, in order to build up its services division.
08-Jul-1999


Emap has acquired Pleine Vie, the French magazine publisher, for undisclosed terms.
08-Jul-1999


Ferguson International, the labels company, is to sell its Morplan distribution business to Alphare of France for £12m, and is also negotiating the sale of its remaining businesses.
08-Jul-1999


Tilbury Douglas is to acquire Bandt, the scaffolding and industrial services company, for £75m, as part of a strategy to diversify away from contracting.
08-Jul-1999


Torex has acquired software companies AAH Meditel and Peak Systems for £6.5m, and redundancies are expected among AAH Meditel's 220 workers in Bromsgrove.
07-Jul-1999


Hanson is acquiring Tidewater Sand & Gravel, the US sea dredger, for £30m.
07-Jul-1999


Weir has acquired Warman International, the Australian pump manufacturer, for £195m, which will double Weir's sales of heavy-duty pumps to £300m a year.
07-Jul-1999


Glynwed International has acquired Victory Refrigeration Company, the US refrigeration equipment company, for £16m.
06-Jul-1999


Symonds, the printed circuit board company, has agreed to a £31m management buy-out and the company is expected to be delisted.
06-Jul-1999


First Group has acquired Bruce Transportation, the US school bus company, for £6.8m.
06-Jul-1999


CRH has acquired two US aggregate companies - Millington Quarry and Dell Contractors - for £91m, and hopes to benefit from an increase in federal highway funding in New Jersey.
06-Jul-1999


Cable & Wireless has acquired Internet Network Services, the provider of corporate internet access services, for undisclosed terms.
06-Jul-1999


Robotic Technology Systems is to acquire Enabling Technology, the US environmental software company, for about £1.9m.
06-Jul-1999


Acrol, the Widnes-based PVC formulation specialist, has been acquired by Geon Company of the US for undisclosed terms.
05-Jul-1999


Druck has acquired GLA Elettronica, the Italian manufacturer of electronic pressure and temperature measurement and calibration devices, for £0.5m.
05-Jul-1999


Morse is acquiring the remaining 66% of Partner System, the French reseller of computer technology, for an initial £3.5m.
05-Jul-1999


Hepworth is selling its bricks business to Ibstock Building Products for about £10m.
05-Jul-1999


Glynwed International has acquired Ipex, the plastic pipes company, from Canada's Ivaco and Sceptor Holdings for £220m.
03-Jul-1999


Alvis has sold Barracuda Technologies, its camouflage equipment subsidiary, to Saab of Sweden for up to £5.6m.
03-Jul-1999


Garban is to merge with Intercapital in order to create the world's largest wholesale money broker, and jobs are expected to be lost in London and New York.
03-Jul-1999


Berisford is to acquire Scotsman Industries, the US manufacturer of refrigeration products, for £448m, and may now decide to sell its Magnet kitchens business.
03-Jul-1999


Amey is acquiring Comax, the support services business spun off from the government's defence research agency, for £86m, as part of a strategy to move away from its traditional construction activities.
02-Jul-1999


GEC is to acquire RDC Communications, the Israeli supplier of wireless equipment, for £24m, as part of a strategy to focus on telecoms and IT networking.
02-Jul-1999


British Telecom's Syntegra division is to acquire Control Data Systems, the US systems integrator, for £217m.
02-Jul-1999


Avon Rubber has acquired Industrial Flexo and Proflex through its Spanish subsidiary for £17m.
02-Jul-1999


Burmah Castrol has sold its Protim Solignum timber treatment division to Osmose of the US for £9.5m.
02-Jul-1999


Emap has acquired Wagadon, the fashion magazine publisher that has an annual turnover of about £10m.
02-Jul-1999


Guardian iT is acquiring Sogeris, the French computer disaster recovery business, for £29m, as part of a strategy to expand into continental Europe.
02-Jul-1999


P&O is acquiring International Terminal Operating, the US port services and stevedores business, for £50m, and will use it as a platform for further expansion in North America.
01-Jul-1999


Newcastle Building Society is planning to merge with Nottingham Imperial, one of the smaller building societies with 12,000 customers.
01-Jul-1999


Coats Viyella has launched an agreed £68m takeover bid for Hicking Pentecost, the industrial threads manufacturer, trumping a rival offer from Ruddick of the US.
01-Jul-1999


Pearson is selling Macmillan General Reference USA to IDG Books Worldwide for £52m, as part of a strategy to sell a number of reference, professional and business operations.
01-Jul-1999


Bridport, the aerospace and medical products manufacturer, is to be acquired by Marmon of the US for £30m.
01-Jul-1999


Prudential is to acquire Hung Fu Life Insurance Company of Taiwan for £30m, as part of a strategy to expand in northern Asia.
01-Jul-1999


Airtours is acquiring Trivselresor, the Swedish holidays company, for £7.5m.
01-Jul-1999


Densitron International has confirmed the sale of its Densitron Microwave division to MCE for up to £7.4m.
01-Jul-1999


GWR has bought the Plymouth Sound radio station from The Local Radio Company for £5.3m.
01-Jul-1999


Sports Internet has acquired Opta, the supplier of football statistics to newspapers, for £3.9m.
30-Jun-1999


Adscene, the regional newspaper publisher, has undergone a £75m management buy-out with the backing of 3i, and Adscene's Midlands business will be sold on to Daily Mail & General Trust for £44m.
30-Jun-1999


NTL is acquiring the field services operations of Simoco, the professional mobile communications company, for £10m, which will involve the transfer of about 150 engineers.
30-Jun-1999


Jennings Brothers is to acquire Cafe Inns, the Lancashire-based operator of 73 pubs, for about £15m.
30-Jun-1999


Nessco of Aberdeen has acquired Newood Telecom of East Kilbride for undisclosed terms, in order to strengthen its position as an international telecoms solution provider.
29-Jun-1999


Bowthorpe is buying a Canadian telecoms testing equipment business from Consultronics for £11m.
29-Jun-1999


Swallow is to sell 659 tenanted pubs to Pubmaster for £127m, in order to focus on hotels and managed pubs.
29-Jun-1999


Bullough is to sell Metallifacture, the automotive products business, to Dura Automotive Systems for £14m.
29-Jun-1999


Taylor Nelson Sofres has acquired two US market research companies - Market Development and QCR Associates - for undisclosed terms.
29-Jun-1999


Ulster Fireclays, the Northern Ireland-based producer of clay pipes for the building industry, has been acquired by Schiedel of Germany.
28-Jun-1999


More Group is planning to acquire a 51% stake in Jolly Pubblicita, the Italian outdoor advertising company, in a $20m deal that includes an option to buy the remaining 49%.
28-Jun-1999


Deloitte & Touche has acquired Rutherford Mason Dowds for undisclosed terms, in order to expand its accountancy operations in Scotland.
26-Jun-1999


Newsquest, the regional newspaper group, has agreed to a £904m takeover bid from Gannett of the US.
25-Jun-1999


Vega has acquired Crew Services, the IT consultancy, for £9.7m, in order to expand into defence, healthcare and police work.
25-Jun-1999


Logica is to acquire Team 121, the business software consultancy, for £74m, and has also announced a £114m share issue to fund the acquisition and reduce debt.
25-Jun-1999


Themis Investment Management, the indexed fund manager, has been acquired by CCF Charterhouse of France for undisclosed terms.
25-Jun-1999


Spring Ram, the kitchens and bathrooms company, has recommended a £82m takeover bid from US Industries, as part of a strategy by the US company to expand into the UK building products market.
25-Jun-1999


Artisan is acquiring Joseph Driver, the Tring-based contractor, for about £1.7m.
24-Jun-1999


Robinson Low Francis, the construction consultant, has merged with Hart Gilmore Associates and is now seeking further acquisitions.
24-Jun-1999


Lloyds TSB is to acquire Scottish Widows for £7bn, and a new division will be set up in Edinburgh to combine their life, pensions, and unit trust operations.
24-Jun-1999


Highbury House Communications is planning to acquire Wyvern Crest, the database marketing company, for £3.7m.
24-Jun-1999


Booker has sold its Arbor Acres chicken breeding business in the US to BC Partners for £68m, and is now looking to sell its salmon farming business.
24-Jun-1999


Sinclair Montrose Healthcare is to undergo a £30m management buy-out backed by Mercury Private Equity Investors and NatWest Equity Partners, and is also launching a strategic review of the Medicentre chain of doctors surgeries.
24-Jun-1999


Norwich Union has acquired Paladin Australia, the property fund manager, for undisclosed terms, and is now seeking further acquisitions in the Australian savings and pension market.
24-Jun-1999


Anite is selling its computer networks business in Australia and New Zealand to Dantec of South Africa for £11m, in order to focus on IT services.
24-Jun-1999


British Energy is acquiring the retail energy supply units of South Wales Electricity from Hyder for £105m, but Hyder will continue to transmit power to the customers and provide back-up office functions under a five-year contract.
24-Jun-1999


Doughty Hanson, the private equity house, has acquired an 80% stake in Knowles Electronics in a deal that values the US manufacturer of electronic components at £329m.
23-Jun-1999


Greene King has announced a £145m takeover offer for rival brewer Morland, which will create a combined group with 1,668 pubs.
23-Jun-1999


Standard Cressall, the shoe machinery supplier, has been sold by the Halma Group to a management team for undisclosed terms, and will now trade as Standard Engineering.
22-Jun-1999


Eldridge Pope has sold its Fine Wines division to Dawes Group and its Howells of Bristol wines business to Lay & Wheeler, and the £3.2m proceeds will be invested in its pub operations.
22-Jun-1999


National Express is acquiring Silverwing Transport Services, the airport coach operator, from Aviation Defence International for £1.2m.
22-Jun-1999


Irish Life is to acquire Woodchester Investment Brokers from GE Capital for undisclosed terms.
22-Jun-1999


Royal & Sun Alliance has acquired Trygg-Hansa's non-life operations from SEB of Sweden for £320m, in order to expand its Nordic insurance business.
22-Jun-1999


Pearson has acquired E Source, the US supplier of energy information, for £11m.
22-Jun-1999


Conduit Communications is merging with i-Cube to create a global IT consultancy business serving clients in both Europe and North America.
22-Jun-1999


Fyffes and Allegro are to merge their grocery distribution operations to create a combined group called Allegro with annual sales of £77m.
22-Jun-1999


Royal Bank of Scotland is to acquire UST Corp, the US bank, for £881m, as part of a strategy to expand its Citizens Financial subsidiary in New England.
22-Jun-1999


Carlton Communications is buying two North American video duplicating companies for £12m - VTR Video of Canada and Grupo Video Visa of Mexico.
21-Jun-1999


Pearson has sold Macmillan Library Reference USA to Thomson Corporation of Canada for £53m.
19-Jun-1999


Unidare is acquiring Oklahoma Rig & Supply, the US wholesaler of industrial supplies, for up to £37m.
18-Jun-1999


United News & Media has acquired a number of US parenting publications for £3.9m, including Arizona Parent, Minnesota Parent and Northwest Parent Publishing.
18-Jun-1999


WS Atkins is to acquire Lambert Smith Hampton, the property consultant, for £50m, as part of a strategy to offer an integrated property service covering everything from land acquisition to demolition.
18-Jun-1999


Photobition, the media services supplier, is buying Custom Color Services of the US for £6.1m.
17-Jun-1999


House of Hardy has acquired Greys of Alnwick, the manufacturer of fishing tackle, for undisclosed terms.
17-Jun-1999


Camstruction, the Aberdeen-based building contractor, has acquired the granite building works specialist George Simpson & Co, for undisclosed terms.
16-Jun-1999


Sims Food is to be acquired by Global Group for £22m, which will create one of the leading frozen food suppliers to the catering industry.
16-Jun-1999


RPC has acquired the plastic sheet business of Montonate of Italy for £9m, as part of a strategy to become a pan-European supplier of polystyrene and polyester sheets.
16-Jun-1999


Chiroscience and Celltech are to merge to create a combined biotechnology group valued at £696m, and the new company is expected to make further acquisitions.
16-Jun-1999


Powerscreen International, the engineering company, is to be acquired by Terex of the US for £181m.
16-Jun-1999


Bowthorpe is to acquire Netcom Systems, the US manufacturer of telecoms test equipment, for £288m.
16-Jun-1999


Lucas Aerospace has acquired SAMM, the French flight control equipment subsidiary of Peugeot Citroen, for undisclosed terms.
15-Jun-1999


Ushers of Trowbridge is to merge with the Alehouse Company, and Alehouse's office in Southampton will be closed in order to run the combined company from the Ushers brewery in Trowbridge.
15-Jun-1999


Informa Group, the business conference and publishing company, has acquired Washington Policy Analysis of the US for up to £13m.
15-Jun-1999


Sterling Publishing is acquiring Net Resource International for up to £7.5m, in order to offer international advertising on specialist industry web sites.
15-Jun-1999


GWR and Radio Investments are to jointly acquire Stray FM, the Harrogate-based radio station, for about £3m.
15-Jun-1999


Stagecoach is considering plans for a US listing, following the acquisition of Coach USA for £1.16bn.
15-Jun-1999


Asda has agreed to a £6.7bn takeover offer from Wal-Mart of the US, raising the prospect of a major shake-up in UK retailing.
15-Jun-1999


Thomson Travel is acquiring the leisure travel business of Via Gruppen of Norway for £13m, including Prisma Tours and Via Leisure Travel.
12-Jun-1999


South Western Electricity is to sell its supply business to Electricite de France for £160m, but regulatory approval for the deal could take up to six months.
12-Jun-1999


Arriva is selling its car leasing business to the GMAC financial division of General Motors for £226m, in order to focus on the expansion of its public transport business.
12-Jun-1999


More Group is acquiring Dauphin, the French billboard company, for £300m, as part of the ongoing consolidation in the world's outdoor advertising industry.
12-Jun-1999


Alpha Airports is acquiring the Gatwick catering facility of British Airways for £14m, and the deal includes a 10-year contract to supply in-flight catering.
12-Jun-1999


Kenwood Appliances has sold its Isle of Wight engineering plant to management in a £1.1m deal, securing 135 jobs.
11-Jun-1999


United Carriers, the parcels and freight distribution company, is being acquired by GEODIS, the French company that is developing a pan-European distribution service.
11-Jun-1999


Souplex, the Morecambe-based plastic moulding company, has been acquired by Moll Industries of the US.
11-Jun-1999


Diageo is to sell its 88% stake in Spanish brewer Cruzcampo to Heineken for £426m.
11-Jun-1999


Dresdner Bank is to acquire a Jersey-based trust company from Ernst & Young, to create one of the largest trust businesses in the Channel Islands with 360 staff.
11-Jun-1999


Alba has acquired Amstrad's telecommunications business for £4m in order to benefit from rising demand for telephones, faxes and answering machines.
11-Jun-1999


Manchester Airport has bought Humberside International Airport for about £10m, and plans to invest £6m at the site in order to create a significant regional hub.
11-Jun-1999


Ford is to acquire the Stewart Grand Prix Formula One team for undisclosed terms, as part of a strategy to become a leader in all major motor sports.
11-Jun-1999


Lowe Electronics, the Matlock-based specialist radio manufacturer, has acquired Relcom of London for £0.5m, in order to gain access to the European mobile telephone market.
10-Jun-1999


WPP is to acquire NoHo Digital, the new media agency, and the business will be merged with its OgilvyOne division.
10-Jun-1999


Henry Boot has acquired Quicklift, the Rotherham-based equipment hire company, for £2.7m.
10-Jun-1999


BOC is acquiring the chemical management division of FSI International of the US for £24m.
10-Jun-1999


Meyer International has acquired RentX Industries, the US tool hire company, for £61m, and has also announced plans to launch a catalogue in the UK in October in order to reach new customers.
10-Jun-1999


Meggitt is to acquire Whittaker Corporation, the US supplier of aerospace parts, for £236m, and expects the deal to strengthen its position as a supplier to Boeing and Airbus.
10-Jun-1999


KPMG has sold its Health Systems division, which designs software for hospitals, to a management team for £14m.
10-Jun-1999


Allied Leisure is set to acquire European Leisure, the nightclubs and snooker operator, for £34m, and is planning to sell off European's 52 nightclubs.
10-Jun-1999


Electrocomponents is acquiring the distribution division of Avnet of the US for £236m, as part of a strategy to build up a global electronic components business.
09-Jun-1999


Rugby Group has sold its Abbseal glass business to a management team for £11m.
09-Jun-1999


VDC, the veterinary and healthcare products company, is to accept a £26m takeover offer from Genus.
09-Jun-1999


Pathe is selling its pay-TV operations to Vivendi of France, which will involve the transfer of Pathe's 17% stake in BSkyB and 20% stake in CanalSatellite and raises the prospect of BSkyB renewing merger talks with Canal Plus.
08-Jun-1999


Aspen Group, the media services company, has agreed to a £8.1m takeover offer made by Rea Brothers on behalf of a management team.
08-Jun-1999


Smiths Industries is to acquire Environmental Technologies Group, the US manufacturer of sensors that detect harmful substances, for £9m.
08-Jun-1999


United News & Media is planning to acquire Two-Ten Communications, the supplier of press releases, from the Press Association for £17m.
08-Jun-1999


Galen is to acquire the product range of Bartholemew Rhodes, the Northamptonshire-based pharmaceutical company, for £20m.
08-Jun-1999


Clyde Shipping is acquiring Lewmar, the supplier of boat parts, for £30m, in order to increase its presence in the leisure marine equipment market.
08-Jun-1999


Scottish Media is acquiring Pearl & Dean, the cinema advertising company, for £22m.
08-Jun-1999


Umeco has acquired ASED, the distributor of aerospace chemicals and electronic components, from TI Group for £12m.
08-Jun-1999


Pegasus Airwave is to merge with Egerton Hospital Equipment, in order to create a combined group called Pegasus Egerton that will be a leading player in the patient and bed management market.
07-Jun-1999


Hatt Kitchens, the Kidderminster-based supplier of made-to-measure kitchens, has undergone a management buy-out that will secure the future of 100 jobs.
07-Jun-1999


Burmah Castrol is expanding its speciality chemicals business with the £15m acquisition of two cement additives companies from Holderbank of Switzerland - CIA of France and Holderchem of Spain.
07-Jun-1999


Ferranti Technologies, the Oldham-based electronic equipment company, has undergone a £10m management buy-out.
07-Jun-1999


British Steel has confirmed plans to merge with Hoogovens of the Netherlands with the loss of about 2,000 jobs, although there are no plans to close any big steel plants.
07-Jun-1999


Domnick Hunter is acquiring the industrial products division of Hiross of Italy for about £8m.
05-Jun-1999


Emess is selling its JSB electronics subsidiary to Cooper of the US for £38m, in order to focus on its consumer lighting business.
05-Jun-1999


Rolls-Royce has sold Peebles Electrical Machines, the Edinburgh-based manufacturer of electric motors and generators, to Pope Electric Motors of Australia.
04-Jun-1999


Bodycote International has acquired King & Fowler, the Liverpool-based surface coatings company, for £1.9m.
04-Jun-1999


Buchler Phillips, the insolvency and restructuring firm, is being acquired by Kroll-O'Gara, the Nasdaq-listed risk specialist, in a £12m deal.
04-Jun-1999


Hillsdown is to be acquired by Hicks Muse Tate & Furst of the US in a £822m deal as Candover has withdrawn from the bidding, and Hicks Muse is expected to sell the poultry division.
04-Jun-1999


John Menzies is to acquire BOC Cargo Services from BOC for £4.9m, in order to expand its airport services business.
04-Jun-1999


Northern Leisure is acquiring Unicorn Holdings, the operator of five nightclubs, for £9.3m.
03-Jun-1999


Cala, the housebuilding and property group, is to be sold to a management buy-out for £95m, as Miller Group has now withdrawn from the bidding.
02-Jun-1999


Outline Engraving, the Nelson-based printing plate manufacturer, has been acquired from the receivers by Pamarco Europe, saving 56 jobs.
02-Jun-1999


Arena Leisure is to buy Ram Racing, the operator of Southwell and Wolverhampton racecourses, for £16m, in order to double its share of the racing market.
02-Jun-1999


Express Dairies is to acquire Glanbia's UK milk operations for £100m, which will give it an extra five plants and 2,000 employees.
02-Jun-1999


Yorkshire Water is to acquire Aquarian Company of Connecticut for £278m, making it the first UK group to buy a quoted US water supply company.
02-Jun-1999


Advent International is to sell Trinity Pharmaceuticals to Chiesi Farmaceutici of Italy for about £50m.
02-Jun-1999


Capital Coated Steel of Cardiff has acquired Forall Metal Products of Stourbridge from the receivers, saving 40 jobs.
01-Jun-1999


Blue Circle has acquired Calcemento International for £401m, which gives it a controlling stake in two Greek cement companies - Heracles General Cement and Halkis Cement.
01-Jun-1999


Unigate is acquiring Generale Traiteur and Marie Surgeles France, two convenience food companies, from Danone of France for £144m.
01-Jun-1999


Mice Group, the marketing support services agency, is to acquire Kadoke of Canada for £1.7m, in its first move into North America.
01-Jun-1999


Warner Howard, the distributor of laundry systems, is to undergo a £53m management buy-out.
31-May-1999


Invensys is to acquire Marcam, the US supplier of enterprise resource planning software, for £38m.
28-May-1999


Charles Taylor is planning to acquire Tindall Riley, the manager of mutual insurance associations, but the price has not yet been finalised.
28-May-1999


Shanks & McEwan is to acquire Caird, the waste management company, for £51m, and hopes to achieve big cost savings as the two companies have various sites close to each other.
28-May-1999


Cannons is to acquire Pinnacle Leisure, the operator of 10 fitness clubs, for £63m.
28-May-1999


FKI is acquiring Industry General Corporation, the US materials handling company that specialises in systems for the parcel delivery business, for £32m.
28-May-1999


Southern Cooper, the Burnley-based law firm, is to merge with Whittle & Whittaker to create a combined firm called Southerns with 60 staff.
27-May-1999


Denby, the manufacturer of glazed stoneware, has announced a £40m management buy-out in response to falling retail demand and the strength of sterling.
27-May-1999


Salehurst, the specialist paper supplier, has announced a £22m management buy-out.
27-May-1999


Perkins Foods is to acquire two French chilled food companies - Fraisnor and Traditions d'Asie - for £13m, in order to expand its European distribution network.
26-May-1999


Polymasc Pharmaceuticals is to be acquired by Valentis, the US drug delivery company, in a £12m deal.
26-May-1999


Cintex, the developer of manufacturing inspection systems, has been acquired by HSBC Private Equity for £38m.
26-May-1999


Swan Hill is to sell Carter Commercial Developments, which specialises in obtaining planning consent for food retail developments, to management in a £8m deal, and the proceeds will be invested in its housing division.
25-May-1999


Christian Salvesen has acquired Gerposa, the Spanish logistics company, for £67m, and is now in discussions to take control of a German business.
25-May-1999


YJ Lovell is selling Lovell Partnerships to Morgan Sindall for £15m in order to invest the proceeds in its construction business, and it will also change its name to YJL.
25-May-1999


FKI has agreed to acquire Crisplant Industries, the Danish manufacturer of sorting systems, for £187m.
25-May-1999


Pearson has sold Jossey-Bass, the US book publisher, to John Wiley & Sons for $82m.
25-May-1999


WH Smith is to acquire Hodder Headline, the book publisher, for £185m, as part of a strategy to sell more books through own-label and proprietary brands.
25-May-1999


Seton Scholl has announced a £1.5bn merger with London International Group to create an enlarged health care products group called SSL International.
25-May-1999


Quintain Estates & Development is acquiring Chesterfield Properties for £139m, and has also announced the sale of the Curzon cinema chain and a number of theatres to the chairman of Chesterfield.
25-May-1999


Harry Dalby Engineering has acquired Regent Engineers, the Narborough-based pressings company, for undisclosed terms.
21-May-1999


Wilmington has acquired 81% of Central Law Group, the provider of publications, training and conferences, for £25m.
21-May-1999


TBI is acquiring Airport Group International, the airports operator, for £89m, and the move should help TBI benefit from forthcoming airport privatisations around the world.
21-May-1999


FI is to acquire OSI Group, the business consulting and management services company, for £106m, as part of a strategy to expand its enterprise resource planning and outsourcing operations.
21-May-1999


Therapeutic Antibodies is to merge with Proteus International to create a combined biotechnology group with a market capitalisation of about £63m.
21-May-1999


Ferguson International is to sell its US-based printing subsidiary DMI to Porter Chadburn for £8.1m.
21-May-1999


Raychem, the US-based electronics manufacturing company that employs 1,150 people in Swindon, has been acquired by Tyco International of the US for £1.8bn.
20-May-1999


Skyepharma is acquiring Hyal Pharmaceutical Corporation of Canada for £3.8m.
20-May-1999


Bodycote has expanded its metal processing business with four acquisitions for a total £13m - Janini of France, LJ Broutman of the US and Ferrodur and Fuji Metallveredelung of Austria.
20-May-1999


Bioprocessing Corporation, the Durham-based supplier of chromatographic media, is being acquired by Millipore of the US for £12m.
20-May-1999


Wagon has sold its Forkardt workholding operations to management for £11m, in order to focus on the automotive and storage sectors.
20-May-1999


JP Corry of Belfast has acquired RK Timber, the timber distributor, from Raab Karcher Shareholdings of Germany for undisclosed terms.
19-May-1999


Crown Leisure, the amusement machine company, is to undergo a management buy-out in a £8.4m deal backed by the Bank of Scotland.
19-May-1999


Johnston Press is to acquire Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers, the regional newspaper publisher, for £266m, having beaten off rival bids from Newsquest and News Communications & Media.
19-May-1999


Scottish Radio Holdings is acquiring Visions Posters, the Birmingham-based outdoor advertising company, for £15m.
19-May-1999


United News & Media is acquiring Strategic Marketing Corporation, the US market research company, for £11m.
19-May-1999


Taylor & Francis is acquiring Europa Publications, the publisher of reference works, from MPG for £12m.
18-May-1999


Senior Engineering has sold its precision tube division to Tyco of the US for £31m, and the proceeds will be invested in its Flexonics business.
18-May-1999


DCS has acquired HB Ulrich, the US supplier of IT solutions to the logistics industry, for £6m.
18-May-1999


Pearson is selling US medical publisher Appleton & Lange to McGraw Hill for $46m, and Master Data Center to Information Holdings for $33m.
18-May-1999


Dixon Motors has acquired Loveday & Bennett, the Louth-based VW Audi dealership, for undisclosed terms.
14-May-1999


Booker has sold its food service division to Bidvest of South Africa for £125m, in order to focus on its cash and carry business.
14-May-1999


Brooke Industrial is to acquire Somta Tools, the manufacturer of high-speed cutting tools, from Anglo American for £4.5m.
14-May-1999


Calderburn, the Blackburn-based office furniture group, has sold its Neville Johnson subsidiary to management for £8m.
14-May-1999


Northern Star, the Gloucester-based insurance company, is being sold by its Italian parent Assicurazioni Generali to Fortis, for a price still to be agreed.
14-May-1999


Bristol Uniforms, the manufacturer of protective clothing, has been sold to specialist workwear company Faithful Group for undisclosed terms.
13-May-1999


ITNet has acquired Technosys, the Coventry-based electronic commerce company, for £9m, and has also announced a ten-year £60m outsourcing deal with Enfield Council.
13-May-1999


Capita Group has acquired MPM Adams, the project management company, for £4m.
13-May-1999


Cookson is acquiring Premier Refractories from Alpine Group of the US for £252m, to create an enlarged refractory products business employing more than 800 people at 70 sites.
13-May-1999


Airtours is acquiring Marysol, the Dutch travel agent, for undisclosed terms.
13-May-1999


Fairey is set to acquire Servomex, the industrial instruments company, for £19m.
13-May-1999


AstraZeneca is selling its speciality chemicals business to a management buy-out backed by Cinven and Investcorp for £1.3bn.
13-May-1999


IGG Component Technology, the Fareham-based supplier of satellite parts, has been sold to its management team for £10m.
12-May-1999


Computer Parts International has acquired Open Integration, the Walsall-based computer systems and spares company, for £3.5m.
12-May-1999


Dentmaster, the remover of dents from car panels, is to be acquired by Manheim Auctions for £11m.
12-May-1999


Peter Black is to acquire Fii's Marks & Spencer footwear business for £5.2m.
12-May-1999


Mentmore Abbey is acquiring Memograde, the French data storage company, for £8.3m, as part of a strategy to create a European records management business.
12-May-1999


Pearson is to sell its US higher-education publications to John Wiley & Sons of the US for £35m, in order to win approval for its acquisition of Simon & Schuster's educational publishing division.
12-May-1999


HSBC is to acquire Republic National Bank New York for $7.6bn, and is offering a further $2.6bn for the remaining 51% stake in Safra Republic Holdings, which includes a number of private banks in Europe.
11-May-1999


Action Computer Supplies has agreed to a £92m takeover offer from Insight Enterprises of the US, and Insight will use it as a base for expanding further into the European computer products market.
11-May-1999


National Express has acquired National Bus Company, the Australian operator of bus services in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, for £13m.
11-May-1999


Hillsdown is acquiring Boin, the French jam manufacturer, for undisclosed terms.
11-May-1999


Sanctuary Group is acquiring ASV, the classical music record company, for £1.3m.
11-May-1999


Volex is acquiring the power cord division of Belden for up to £18m.
11-May-1999


CRH has acquired two Finnish cement and aggregates businesses from Scancem of Sweden for £273m, and is now looking to expand into the Baltic states and eastern Europe.
11-May-1999


BWI, the packaging equipment company, has accepted a £48m takeover offer from IWKA of Germany.
11-May-1999


Tarsus Group is to acquire Edit Expo, the French organiser of trade exhibitions, for about £5m.
11-May-1999


Scientifics, the Derby-based research company, has acquired the Glasgow-based bridge monitoring division of Stanger Science, which is owned by Tarmac.
10-May-1999


Diagonal has acquired MFT, the Leeds-based software solutions company, for £5m, and MFT's 40 staff will relocate to Diagonal's northern headquarters in Kirkstall Road.
10-May-1999


European Colour, the Manchester-based pigments and coatings company, has acquired RFS Corporation, its US partner, in a £5.6m deal.
10-May-1999


Aga of Sweden has withdrawn from the UK industrial gases market by selling AGA Gas to Air Products & Chemicals of the US as well as its 50% stake in Air Gas Production to Messer of Germany.
10-May-1999


VDC, the veterinary and healthcare products company, has announced a reverse takeover deal with the Lawrence chemicals group, in order to fight off a hostile takeover bid from Genus.
10-May-1999


Metnor is acquiring two engineering services companies for a maximum of £6.5m - Norstead, the air conditioning supplier, and MGY, the supplier of hoses and gauges.
08-May-1999


NFC has acquired Xpress Group, the provider of wheel assembly services, for £4m, in order to expand its automotive logistics business.
08-May-1999


Wolseley, the building materials company, is to acquire British Fittings for £40m, in order to expand its distribution business.
08-May-1999


Sports Internet is acquiring Planetfootball.com, the developer of web sites for football clubs, for £24m, in order to build up an online sports betting business.
08-May-1999


Royal Bank of Scotland is to acquire the commercial banking operations of State Street of the US for $350m, through its Citizens Financial Group subsidiary.
07-May-1999


Burmah Castrol is planning to acquire Remet Corporation, the US supplier of casting products to the engineering industry, for $33m.
07-May-1999


Blagden has sold its Blagden Chemicals formaldehyde and resin business to Borden Chemical of the US for £45m, and is now looking to sell its three remaining businesses in order to break-up the group.
07-May-1999


NTL is to acquire Cablelink, the Irish cable TV provider, for £438m.
07-May-1999


Kartupelis Associates and The Focus Group have merged to create one of the largest PR firms in the Mid-Anglia region.
06-May-1999


Senior Engineering is selling its heat-treatment operations to Aalberts Industries of the Netherlands for £25m.
06-May-1999


Nycomed Amersham is selling a 70% stake in its Norwegian-based pharmaceutical business to Nordic Capital in a deal that values the operation at £340m, in order to focus on imaging and biotech supply.
06-May-1999


Albright & Wilson, the chemicals company, has agreed to a £526m takeover from Rhodia of France.
06-May-1999


Remington Collins, the Leicester-based insurance broker, is merging with the Beckett Group of East Anglia.
05-May-1999


Tote has acquired 32 Mike Dines betting shops in the North West of England for undisclosed terms, taking its total number of outlets to 275.
05-May-1999


Lasmo has launched an agreed £550m takeover bid for Monument Oil & Gas, which is expected to generate cost savings of about £7m a year.
05-May-1999


ICI and J&J Dyson have announced an asset swap in which ICI is paying £8.2m for Dyson's Dycat catalyst business, and Dyson is paying £3.3m for ICI's Saffil alumina fibre operation.
05-May-1999


Property Asset Holdings is acquiring Northacre, the London-based residential property developer, for £14m, and will adopt the Northacre name.
05-May-1999


Stratagem has sold its industrial door and access control business to Kaba of Switzerland for £6.3m, in order to focus on refrigeration, castings and motor dealerships.
05-May-1999


Roslin Bio-Med, the cloning research company set up by Edinburgh's Roslin Institute, is being acquired by Geron of the US, and £12.5m will be invested at the institute over the next six years.
05-May-1999


John Lawrie and International Tubular Services are merging to create a combined Aberdeen-based oil and gas services company with turnover of more than £40m.
04-May-1999


Beauford has sold three Stoke-based pottery factories - Wade UK, Wade USA and Allied Insulators - to a management buy-out team for £7.9m.
04-May-1999


The Post Office is acquiring Der Kurier, the German express delivery company with 80 depots, for undisclosed terms.
04-May-1999


Beachcroft Stanleys is merging with Wansbroughs Willey Hargrave to create the UK's tenth largest law firm, and the new group will be called Beachcroft Wansbroughs.
04-May-1999


SGB is selling Comabi, its French manufacturing operation, to Zarges Tubesca for £5.5m in order to focus on the development of a European branch network for the rental of access products.
04-May-1999


City Business Systems, the Leicester-based computer systems supplier, has been sold to a management team.
03-May-1999


Bensons Crisps is acquiring Country Harvest, the fruit and nut snacks company, for £6.7m.
01-May-1999


Unipart is to acquire Partco, the automotive parts distributor, for £179m, and Partco will continue to be run by the existing management from its Birmingham headquarters.
01-May-1999


Aegis is to acquire Market Facts, the US market research company, for £185m.
01-May-1999


Tracker Network, the stolen vehicle recovery company, is to undergo a £39m management buy-out.
01-May-1999


T&S Stores has acquired the One Stop chain of convenience stores from Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers for £66m, which will increase its number of outlets by 218 to 1,185.
01-May-1999


Saltire, the distributor of electronic components, is to undergo a £25m management buy-out.
01-May-1999


Smith & Nephew is to sell a majority stake in its medical bracing business to Chase Capital Partners for £124m, and the proceeds will be used to expand its core orthopaedic, wound management, and endoscopy businesses.
01-May-1999


Lex Service is to acquire RAC Motoring Services for £437m, and will use the RAC brand on its Autocentre servicing outlets and its Autosales used car chain.
01-May-1999


Morgan Crucible is selling its Isomor engineering business to Vesuvius Scotland for undisclosed terms, which will result in the loss of 48 jobs at its Morganite Thermal Ceramics plant in Norton.
30-Apr-1999


United News & Media has announced a recommended £571m takeover offer for CMP Media, the US technology media company, and will combine it with its Miller Freeman division.
30-Apr-1999


Terranova, the manufacturer of chilled convenience foods, has recommended a revised £274m takeover bid from Unigate.
30-Apr-1999


Diagonal has acquired MFT Computer Holdings, the Leeds-based IT consultancy, for £4.8m.
30-Apr-1999


Scottish Radio Holdings has acquired Parkin Advertising, the Bristol-based outdoor advertising company, for £9m.
29-Apr-1999


Hewden Stuart has acquired PW Plant, the Middlesex-based plant hirer, for £0.5m.
29-Apr-1999


Ainscough has acquired Cardon Crane Hire of London for undisclosed terms.
29-Apr-1999


Acal is to acquire Sedgemoor, the distributor of electronic components, for £78m.
29-Apr-1999


Travis Perkins is to acquire Keyline, the builders' merchant, from CRH for £181m, in order to expand its business in Scotland and the north of England.
29-Apr-1999


Laura Ashley is to sell its US business to management for a nominal sum as part of a deal with bankers to stave off insolvency.
29-Apr-1999


TI Group is to acquire Walbro, the US manufacturer of automotive fuel storage and delivery systems, for £393m.
29-Apr-1999


Grampian is acquiring Wilfred Holden, the Lancashire-based road haulage company, for £1.2m.
29-Apr-1999


Biffa has acquired the Poplars Resource Management Company from Staffordshire County Council for £26m, in order to expand its waste management business.
28-Apr-1999


Kolorcraft, the Wakefield-based producer of corporate communications material, has been sold to its management for £6m.
28-Apr-1999


Acorn, the microchip designer, has agreed to a £270m takeover by MSDW Investment Holdings, and Acorn's set-top box business will be sold to Pace Micro Technology and its Media DSP division will be sold to management.
28-Apr-1999


GEC is acquiring Fore Systems, the US manufacturer of internet switching equipment, for £2.6bn, as part of a strategy to transform itself from a defence business into a telecommunications group.
27-Apr-1999


Cable & Wireless is selling its undersea cable-laying operation to Global Crossing of the US for £550m, in order to focus on its core business of communications networks.
27-Apr-1999


Europower is acquiring Voss, the US couplings distributor, for £3.7m.
27-Apr-1999


Ring has acquired Arctic Products, the manufacturer of pipe freezing kits, for about £1.2m, in order to improve its position in the plumbing market.
27-Apr-1999


Incepta is acquiring the Public Policy Unit, a public affairs consultancy, for about £1.2m, and will merge the business with its Citigate Westminster consultancy.
27-Apr-1999


Northern Foods is acquiring Fletcher Bakeries, the Sheffield-based bakery, for £41m.
24-Apr-1999


Doughty Hanson, the private equity group, is acquiring Umbro, the sports clothing company, for £90m.
24-Apr-1999


United Industries, the engineering company, is selling Cintride, Neepsend Tools and Neepsend Scotland, to their management for a total £2.6m.
24-Apr-1999


Kingfisher is acquiring Dickens, the North East DIY group, for about £27m, and will convert at least four of the five outlets to the B&Q format.
23-Apr-1999


Millennium & Copthorne is acquiring the hotel interests of CDL Hotels International for £556m, which will give it 43 hotels in Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
23-Apr-1999


Rexam is to sell its flexible packaging operation in New Zealand to Royal Packaging Industries Van Leer for £8.6m.
23-Apr-1999


Densitron, the electronic components company, has sold its microwave subsidiary to an undisclosed buyer for £8m.
23-Apr-1999


Ellison Holdings, the engineering company, has been acquired by TransTechnology Corporation, and the US company will close its Anderton International factory in Bingley and transfer 150 workers to Ellison's factory in Glusburn.
22-Apr-1999


Milner has acquired the Professional Construction Management group of companies in order to expand its corporate building consultancy division.
22-Apr-1999


Spring Ram is selling 85% of its Stag Holdings furniture business to management for £4.2m, in order to focus on kitchens and bathrooms.
22-Apr-1999


South Staffordshire Water is planning to acquire Epok, the drain and sewer cleaner, for £3.2m.
22-Apr-1999


Electra Investment Trust has sold Wap Reinigungssysteme, the German manufacturer of high-pressure cleaning systems, to Incentive of Denmark for £72m.
21-Apr-1999


Jurys is acquiring the Doyle Hotel Group for £207m, in order to gain three US hotels and expand its market share in Ireland.
21-Apr-1999


Quintain Estates & Development is to acquire English & Overseas Properties for £33m, and plans to close the E&O head office and press ahead with its property development plans.
20-Apr-1999


Glynwed International has sold its three remaining metal processing businesses to Niagara Corporation of the US for £21m, in order to focus on pipe systems and food services.
20-Apr-1999


William Baird is acquiring Lowe Alpine, the manufacturer of outdoor clothing and equipment, for £13m.
17-Apr-1999


Clydeport Transport has acquired Gray Brothers, the Dumbarton-based haulage contractor, for £0.5m.
17-Apr-1999


Sportsworld Media is acquiring a 51% stake in Stuart Sawyer, the sports marketing company, for £1.3m.
17-Apr-1999


Money Controls has sold Kestrel Injection Moulders and Hampton Mouldings to Integral Plastics for £8m.
17-Apr-1999


Vitec has acquired Litec, the Italian lighting equipment manufacturer, for £2.6m.
17-Apr-1999


Sedgwick is to sell Sedgwick Oakwood Lloyd's Underwriting Agents to Sedgwick Oakwood Capital for undisclosed terms.
17-Apr-1999


Amec has completed the sale of its Fairclough Homes division to Centex of the US for £109m.
17-Apr-1999


JN Nichols has acquired Balmoral Trading, the supplier of hot beverage systems, for an estimated £7m.
17-Apr-1999


Sharpe & Fisher has acquired Malvern Building Supplies for £2m, as part of a strategy to expand its regional network of branches.
16-Apr-1999


ICI is to sell its polyurethane, tioxide and parts of its petrochemicals business to Huntsman of the US for £1.7bn, but will retain a 30% in a new company called Huntsman ICI that will hold the assets for up to four years.
16-Apr-1999


Norish is acquiring Belvedere Warehousing Group, the coffee and cocoa warehousing company, for £7m.
16-Apr-1999


IMI is to acquire Polypipe, the building materials concern, for £337m, which will enable it to sell Polypipe's products into continental Europe.
16-Apr-1999


Scoot is in discussions to acquire Diva Solutions, the internet software company, in order to help with the development of its online directories.
15-Apr-1999


Emap has acquired Intohome, the organiser of a home furnishings exhibition, for undisclosed terms.
15-Apr-1999


Scapa is selling its paper machine business to Voith of Germany for £329m, in order to focus on its technical tapes operation.
14-Apr-1999


Carclo Engineering is to acquire Carrera Corporation, the US plastic mouldings company, for up to £16m.
14-Apr-1999


British Polythene Industries is acquiring Nottingham Rope & Twine for £0.7m.
14-Apr-1999


Electronics Boutique has launched a recommended £97m offer to acquire Game, the chain of 86 entertainment software stores.
13-Apr-1999


Gresham Computing is acquiring SIM Group, the software testing company, for up to £10m.
13-Apr-1999


Hydra-Tight, the Walsall-based bolt tensioning and pipeline coupling company, has been acquired by Waukesha Bearings Corporation of the US.
12-Apr-1999


Edwin Trisk Systems, the Sunderland-based infra-red heating equipment company, has been bought out of receivership by Precision Engineering International for undisclosed terms, saving 70 jobs.
12-Apr-1999


Sibir Energy is to acquire EuroSov Energy for £7.4m, in order to co-operate in the expansion of their oil exploration activities in Russia.
12-Apr-1999


Robert Wiseman has acquired an 80% stake in Gilmour's Dairy of Kilmarnock for £3.5m.
10-Apr-1999


Princes Foods is to acquire Mauritius Tuna Fishing & Canning Enterprises and plans to set up a new canning plant on the island.
10-Apr-1999


Rachel's Organic Dairy, the producer of organic dairy products, has been acquired by Horizon of the US for undisclosed terms.
10-Apr-1999


Avonside, the building services company, is to be sold to its managing director and Alchemy Partners in a £22m deal.
10-Apr-1999


First Group has acquired GAG, the operator of local bus services in Somerset, Dorset and Devon, in a £11m deal.
09-Apr-1999


SP Group, the Birmingham-based specialist printing group, has been sold to a management team for £18m.
09-Apr-1999


Metalrax has acquired RTA Wine Racks, the Norfolk-based manufacturer of metal and wooden wine racks, for £3m.
09-Apr-1999


Dunn-Line has acquired Ascot, the Derby-based coach operator, and plans to double the size of the Ascot fleet to 24 coaches and create 20 jobs.
09-Apr-1999


Graphic Inline, the Leicester-based direct mail company, has been acquired by a management team for undisclosed terms.
09-Apr-1999


ICI is selling its Chance & Hunt chemical distribution business to a management team for about £10m, and has also announced a deal to sell a German speciality chemicals business to PPG Industries.
09-Apr-1999


Highbury House Communications has sold DPS Typecraft, the supplier of computer systems to the publishing sector, to Digital Technology International for up to £3.4m.
09-Apr-1999


IWP International is to acquire Fine Fragrances & Cosmetics, the cosmetics and perfumes company, for up to £8.8m.
09-Apr-1999


Carclo Engineering is planning to buy Wood Industries, the US plastic mouldings company, for about £22m.
09-Apr-1999


Parity has bought TMS Information Solutions, the developer of intranets, for £6.6m.
09-Apr-1999


Denise Fabrics has bought Wilson Wilcox, the Yorkshire-based fabric design company, out of administration.
08-Apr-1999


British Telecom has acquired a 20% stake in SmarTone, the Hong Kong mobile operator, for £240m, as part of a strategy to expand its business in the Asia-Pacific region.
08-Apr-1999


BICC is to sell its energy cables division to General Cable of the US for £275m, in order to focus on its Balfour Beatty construction business.
08-Apr-1999


Sears is to sell its Freemans mail order business to Otto Versand of Germany for undisclosed terms, leaving it focus on its retail operations which include Miss Selfridge, Richards, Warehouse, Adams, Wallis and Outfit.
08-Apr-1999


Capital Radio is selling the Henry J Bean chain of bar restaurants to a management team operating as Silverluck for £2.4m.
08-Apr-1999


Caradon is to sell its three remaining North American doors and windows operations to Nortek for £41m.
07-Apr-1999


Tie Rack is being acquired by Frangi Investments, the Italian scarf and tie manufacturer, for £23m, and the plan is to revitalise Tie Rack's 426 outlets.
07-Apr-1999


Dobbies Garden Centres is acquiring E&J Bayley, the Shropshire-based operator of two garden centres, for £3.4m.
07-Apr-1999


Lex Service is expanding its mechanical handling business with four acquisitions, including Birchwood's contract hire and servicing operation for £3.5m and Liftright Powered Access for £1.4m.
07-Apr-1999


Ultra Electronics, the manufacturer of civil aviation equipment, is acquiring Advanced Programming Concepts of the US for £6.3m.
07-Apr-1999


JSB Software Technologies is acquiring Kansmen Corporation of the US for an initial £1.2m, and is also raising £5m in a share offer in order to fund the development of its internet security products.
07-Apr-1999


Cambridge Animation Systems, the producer of animation software for the film industry, has been bought by Nomura for undisclosed terms.
07-Apr-1999


Thomson Travel has acquired Keynsham-based Spanish Harbour Holidays for about £2m, as part of a strategy to expand its portfolio of specialist tour operators.
07-Apr-1999


Baldwins Industrial Services has bought Loadtite, the Bristol-based crane equipment hire company, in a £1m deal.
06-Apr-1999


Hanson has acquired FC Precast Concrete from Wilshaw for £3.7m, and plans to expand the concrete box culverts factory in Derby.
06-Apr-1999


Charles Walls Group, the Yorkshire-based advertising agency, has been acquired by its management team in a £0.5m deal.
06-Apr-1999


Hanson is acquiring North American Brick Group from Jannock of Canada for £160m.
03-Apr-1999


Cleveland Trust, the property company, has recommended a £33m takeover bid from Ashtenne Holdings.
03-Apr-1999


Skillsgroup has acquired the UK training division of Cap Gemini for £32m.
03-Apr-1999


Sanderson Bramall has bought Albany Lease, the car hire company, from the receivers for about £4m.
03-Apr-1999


Dairy Crest has acquired Millway Foods, the speciality cheese company, for £2.5m.
03-Apr-1999


Wenaas has acquired St Heliers Safety, the Tyneside-based manufacturer of clothing and protective equipment with turnover of about £2m.
02-Apr-1999


Inchcape has sold most of its marketing operations in the Middle East to Cupola Investments of Dubai for £72m, as part of a strategy to focus on its international automotive distribution activities.
02-Apr-1999


Tomkins has acquired ACD Tridon, the manufacturer of windscreen wiper systems, from Devtek of Canada for £63m.
02-Apr-1999


BP Amoco has confirmed plans to acquire Atlantic Richfield of the US in a $27bn deal, and will then seek to sell off $3bn of assets and cut 2,000 jobs including 200 at Arco's office in Guildford.
02-Apr-1999


Tectonic, the Merthyr-based manufacturer of computerised camera systems to monitor printing presses, has been sold to a management team for undisclosed terms.
01-Apr-1999


TS Booker & Son, the Wakefield-based specialist furniture manufacturer, has been sold to a management buy-in team.
01-Apr-1999


M Holleran has bought Eade Pipelines, the utilities contractor, out of receivership, and about 275 jobs have been saved.
01-Apr-1999


Ryland Group is to sell a 75% stake in its car leasing operation to a subsidiary of Paribas, the French bank, for £19m, and is close to completing the £7.5m acquisition of Wyndham, the Welsh car dealership.
01-Apr-1999


Albert Fisher has sold two if its River Ranch prepared vegetable operations in the US to Taylor Fresh Foods for about £3m, and the sale of an additional nine businesses should be agreed in the next few weeks.
01-Apr-1999


Xenova is selling Discovery, its technology subsidiary, to TerraGen Diversity of Canada for up to £5m.
01-Apr-1999


Tomkins is to sell four Spillers flour mills to Archer-Daniels-Midland of the US for undisclosed terms, in order to comply with a ruling by the Monopolies & Mergers Commission.
01-Apr-1999


RMC is acquiring two US concrete companies - Jobe Concrete Products and Reno Sparks Ready Mix - for a total of £72m.
01-Apr-1999


WSP Group is acquiring HJT, the structural consulting engineer, for £1.6m.
31-Mar-1999


Mercantile, the small Tyneside-based building society, is to acquire its local rival The Standard.
31-Mar-1999


Stanley Leisure is set to acquire Capital Corporation, the London casino group, for £86m, in order to expand its chain of 24 casinos.
31-Mar-1999


Greenalls is selling its Stretton Leisure fruit-machine business to Leisure Link Group for £28m, in order to focus on leisure retailing operations with higher growth prospects.
30-Mar-1999


Bemrose, the manufacturer of promotional gifts, is to sell its US supplier division to Norwood for £80m.
30-Mar-1999


Tibbett & Britten has acquired Arbuckle Smith, the Scottish logistics contractor, for undisclosed terms.
30-Mar-1999


Scottish Media Group has acquired Baillie, the outdoor advertising company, for undisclosed terms.
30-Mar-1999


Enterprise Inns is acquiring Century Inns, the chain of about 500 pubs, for £79m, and the Century head office in Stockton-on-Tees will be closed.
30-Mar-1999


Microgen is acquiring Kaisha Technology, the Swindon-based business intelligence consultancy, for £18m.
30-Mar-1999


Princes Foods is acquiring Oxbridge Foods, the Chertsey-based canned foods company with turnover of about £70m.
27-Mar-1999


Kvaerner has sold Heavylift Group, the Essex-based cargo airline and aircraft maintenance group, to a management team for £15m.
26-Mar-1999


M-R Group, the data management company, has accepted a £94m takeover offer from Lason, the US company that is seeking to build up its European business.
26-Mar-1999


McDonald's has acquired Aroma, the chain of 23 London coffee bars, from Apax Partners for more than £10m, and hundreds of new Aroma outlets are being planned.
26-Mar-1999


Barclays has sold Merck Finck, the German private banking business, to Kredietbank Luxembourgeoise for £170m, as it did not fit in with group strategy.
26-Mar-1999


S Daniels has acquired All Square Foods and Bilash Foods for a total £4.4m.
26-Mar-1999


Baker Tilly, the accountancy firm, is to merge with Gruber Levinson Franks in a move that will double its presence in the north west.
25-Mar-1999


Kwik-Fit has acquired consulting and training services company TFA Holdings for £1.8m, in order to improve staff communication, technical and managerial skills.
25-Mar-1999


British Steel has acquired Caradon Catnic, the Caerphilly-based steel lintel producer, from Caradon in a £14m deal.
25-Mar-1999


Waters, the Hertfordshire-based Renault, Peugeot and Toyota car dealership, has been sold to management for undisclosed terms.
25-Mar-1999


Gremlin, the games software company, has agreed to a £23m takeover offer from Infogrames Entertainment of France.
25-Mar-1999


Robert Wiseman Dairies has won acceptance for its £1m bid for Aberdeen Milk, the dairy farmers co-operative.
25-Mar-1999


Victory, the fashion company controlled by Virgin, has bought the assets of Cadoro, the menswear retailer, for £0.6m.
25-Mar-1999


Royal Bank of Scotland is selling its RBS Trust Bank global custody business to the Bank of New York for about £500m.
24-Mar-1999


Fitch, the design and branding services group, has agreed a £27m takeover offer from Lighthouse of the US.
24-Mar-1999


IMI Marston is selling its Wolverhampton-based aerospace business to Hamilton Standard for £17m.
24-Mar-1999


Headway is selling its Europa sofa-bed manufacturing business to a management team for about £1.5m.
24-Mar-1999


NFF has acquired Evans Group and Hafren Wholesale, the speciality bread makers, for £2.1m.
24-Mar-1999


Danka Business Systems has sold its outsourcing division to Schroder Ventures for a sum thought to be more than £150m, as part of an ongoing restructuring programme.
24-Mar-1999


Hays has acquired Ceritex, the French call centre services company, for £12m, and Crawfords Computing, the UK database management company, also for £12m.
24-Mar-1999


Westminster Healthcare, the nursing homes group, has agreed a £214m takeover bid from a new company called Canterbury, which is backed by Goldman Sachs.
23-Mar-1999


TI has acquired Tri-Manufacturing, the US maker of jet engine parts, for £36m.
23-Mar-1999


Somerfield has acquired Flanagans, the London-based grocery delivery business, for £3.2m, as part of an expansion of Somerfield Direct that will also include two new warehouses and 300 delivery vans.
23-Mar-1999


South Country Homes is acquiring Thistledown for £3.3m in order to transform itself from a property company into a leisure group, and it will be renamed Marazan Leisure.
23-Mar-1999


Skillsgroup is acquiring Pontis Consulting, the developer of IT systems for financial institutions, for up to £34m.
20-Mar-1999


United News & Media's Miller Freeman division is acquiring Continuing Medical Education of the US for £68m.
20-Mar-1999


Dawson International is selling Dawson Fur Fabrics to a new company formed by 3i for £17m, as part of a strategy to dispose of non-core businesses.
20-Mar-1999


Goldsmiths, the jewellery retailer, has agreed to a £44m management buy-out.
19-Mar-1999


GKN and Finmeccanica of Italy have agreed to merge their helicopter operations, Westland and Agusta, into a joint venture that will have about 20% of the world market.
19-Mar-1999


Dale Polymers, the Accrington-based rubber products company, has undergone a management buy-out and is now seeking to expand into new markets.
18-Mar-1999


Wernick Hire, the building hire company, has acquired UK Cabins for £2.4m.
18-Mar-1999


Texon UK, the manufacturer of structural footwear materials, has acquired Leicester-based Cornwell Industries for £3m.
17-Mar-1999


Headlam has acquired Eclipse Blinds for £52m, and is now planning to spend up to £40m on acquisitions to expand its floor covering business in continental Europe.
17-Mar-1999


Porter Chadburn, the printing company, has received a £47m takeover bid from Mail-Well of the US.
17-Mar-1999


Charter has sold its Wirth tunnelling and drilling business in Germany to management for £7m.
16-Mar-1999


First Choice is to merge with Kuoni Reisen of Switzerland to create one of the largest tour operators in Europe, and the new group will be called Kuoni Holdings and have a headquarters in Crawley.
16-Mar-1999


Ardagh of Ireland is to acquire Rockware from Owens-Illinois of the US for £240m, and estimates that it will then have 31% of the UK glass containers market and 79% of the Irish market.
16-Mar-1999


Hepworth has sold its door parts business Henderson Hardware for £4.2m.
15-Mar-1999


Morgan Crucible is to sell its chemical products business to Illinois Tool Works of the US for £174m.
15-Mar-1999


Albert Fisher has sold Fisher Quality Foods Uyttewaal, its Dutch pickles business, to Carl Kuhne for £4.4m.
13-Mar-1999


Barbour Index, the information company, is to be acquired by Havas of France for £53m.
13-Mar-1999


Meconic, the pharmaceutical chemicals manufacturer, is selling its Phoenix division to a group of investors for £5.5m.
13-Mar-1999


Low & Bonar has acquired two rotational moulding companies in the US - PDM Molding of Colorado and PDM Molding NW of Washington - for an initial £10m.
12-Mar-1999


Allied Leisure has agreed terms for a merger with European Leisure, and they will focus on expanding the snooker and bowling sides of the business.
12-Mar-1999


Prudential has agreed a £1.9bn deal to acquire M&G Group, the fund manager, which is expected to create the UK's largest unit trust provider.
12-Mar-1999


Garador, the Yeovil-based garage door manufacturer, has undergone a management buyout for undisclosed terms.
11-Mar-1999


John Mowlem has acquired Analytical Service Centre, the food testing business, for £1.2m.
11-Mar-1999


Rexam has sold its Australian envelopes and stationery operations for £21m.
11-Mar-1999


TI is acquiring Kenmore Italiana, the Italian manufacturer of air conditioning for cars, for £20m, and will merge it into its Bundy division.
11-Mar-1999


Carlton Communications has acquired Planet 24, the TV production company, for £15m.
11-Mar-1999


C Jeffrey Black and J Lizars are to merge to create Scotland's largest independent optical group, with 23 branches and more than 200 staff.
10-Mar-1999


Tibbett & Britten has acquired GV Logistik, the Austrian food distributor, for undisclosed terms.
10-Mar-1999


Oliver Ashworth Group has acquired Walker & Staff, the Billericay-based industrial valves and pipeline equipment distribution business, in a £1.4m deal.
09-Mar-1999


Hillsdown has sold Holco, its Dutch canning business, to a management team, and proceeds will be used to reduce debt.
09-Mar-1999


Cellnet has confirmed the acquisition of an 80% stake in Martin Dawes Telecommunications for £130m, and is interested in buying the remaining 20% from Vodafone.
09-Mar-1999


National Power has acquired the Calortex gas supply business from a joint venture of Texaco, Calor and Nuon, for undisclosed terms.
09-Mar-1999


Scottish Radio Holdings has acquired Trainer for £27m, as part of a plan to set up an outdoor advertising division.
09-Mar-1999


Blick has acquired General Control Systems, the South African developer of computerised time and attendance products, for £2m.
08-Mar-1999


Caradon is to acquire an 85% stake in Termo Teknik, the Turkish radiator company, for £30m, and is selling its UK windows and doors business to Bardox Group for £40m.
08-Mar-1999


Oxford Instruments is selling its Nuclear Measurements division to Canberra Industries for £5.9m.
06-Mar-1999


Standard Chartered is to acquire the non-Swiss trade finance business of UBS for £130m, in order to strengthen its position in Latin America and Asia.
06-Mar-1999


Express Dairies has acquired Star Dairies for £2.7m, in order to expand its business in the London area.
06-Mar-1999


Royal & Sun Alliance is selling its US life insurance operations to Swiss Re Life & Health for about £240m, in order to focus its US business on general insurance.
05-Mar-1999


Esselte Office Products has sold its Bar Hill-based Machine Supplies Division to management in a multi-million pound deal, and the business will be renamed Roltech and extra staff taken on.
04-Mar-1999


Lex Service has acquired two subsidiaries of the collapsed Leeds-based Peterhead Group - forklift truck dealership Birchwood Mechanical Services and forklift rental firm Birchwood Mechanical Sales.
04-Mar-1999


MY Holdings has sold its Corrugated Packaging division to Corpack Industries for £10m, and the proceeds will be invested in the expansion of core activities.
04-Mar-1999


Ruberoid has acquired Kingsnorth Bitumen Products for £1.2m, and has also announced the closure of its roofing felt factory in Dundee.
04-Mar-1999


Arriva is acquiring Bus Danmark, the Danish bus operator, for £14m.
04-Mar-1999


Rotork is buying Valvekits Group, the valve products company, for £6.6m.
04-Mar-1999


Wainhomes, the housebuilder, is to undergo a management buyout for £88m.
04-Mar-1999


Delta has sold its cables business to Draka Holdings of the Netherlands for an initial £22m.
03-Mar-1999


Informa is buying Daily Commercial News, the Australian newspaper, from APN News & Media for £3.9m.
03-Mar-1999


Blackwell's, the Oxford-based bookseller, is set to acquire Heffers of Cambridge for undisclosed terms, and the deal should be completed within weeks.
02-Mar-1999


GEC has acquired Reltec Corp, the US networking products company, for £1.3bn, and further acquisitions in the telecoms sector are expected to follow.
02-Mar-1999


Sage is set to acquire Tetra, the business software company, for £77m.
02-Mar-1999


Horace Small Apparel, the work clothes manufacturer, is to sell its US operations to VF Workwear for £36m.
02-Mar-1999


BICC is selling its lossmaking telecommunication cables business to Corning of the US for £82m.
02-Mar-1999


Vinks Plastics, the Sale-based supplier of plastic sheeting, has been bought out of receivership by Valiant Plastics of Manchester, for £11m.
01-Mar-1999


Panic Link, the Ashby-based parcels company, has sold a controlling stake to Chronopost, part of the French post office, for undisclosed terms.
01-Mar-1999


Hugh James, the Cardiff-based law firm, is merging with Exeter-based Ford Simey Daw Roberts in order to expand their insurance litigation work.
01-Mar-1999


Henderson Investors, the fund management company, is acquiring Phoenix Realty Advisors of the US, which will more than double its property assets under management to £7.2bn.
01-Mar-1999


Airtech, the mobile communications company, has accepted a £19m takeover bid from Remec of the US.
01-Mar-1999


Williams is acquiring Tempus, the Swedish fire protection company, for £10m.
01-Mar-1999


Marconi Communications has acquired Tetrel, the Llantrisant-based payphones manufacturer, for undisclosed terms, and has promised to invest in the company to expand international sales.
26-Feb-1999


Glynwed is to sell most of its metals-processing business to Tyco International for £145m, and the proceeds will be used to acquire pipe distribution and commercial kitchen equipment companies.
26-Feb-1999


Williams has acquired FPD Guardforce, the Hong Kong security and fire protection business, for £75m.
26-Feb-1999


Ashtead, the industrial hire company, has acquired UK Plant for £20m.
26-Feb-1999


Brownhills Garage, the Newark-based motorhomes dealer, has been acquired by a management team for £15m, and is now seeking to grow both organically and by acquisition.
25-Feb-1999


Pemberstone, the residential property company, is to undergo a £32m management buyout.
25-Feb-1999


Wilmslow Group is acquiring Media Content, the sports media advisory concern, in a £10m reverse takeover.
25-Feb-1999


Karrimor, the outdoor clothing firm, has been bought by South African leisure group Cullinan Holdings for £9m, and production at the Clayton-le-Moors site is expected to close with the loss of 80 jobs.
24-Feb-1999


Pearson is selling the Extel name and financial research business to Primark of the US for £19m.
23-Feb-1999


CMG has acquired Partner Consult, the German systems consultancy, for £8.2m, as part of its strategy to expand across Europe.
23-Feb-1999


Thornton Precision Components and seven other engineering companies have been acquired by a management buyout with the backing of 3i from National Industries of Kuwait for £154m, and the new company will be called Mettis Group.
23-Feb-1999


Nomura has dropped plans to float its William Hill betting business in favour of a trade sale to the venture capital groups CVC and Cinven for £825m.
22-Feb-1999


Corby Windows has bought Janus Windows of the West Midlands out of receivership, and the 48 workers will be re-employed to make windows and doors.
22-Feb-1999


Granada Food Services has acquired Summit Catering, the contract catering company, for £6.5m.
22-Feb-1999


Shorterm Group, the engineering contract employment agency, is being acquired for £17m by a group of institutions led by 3i, and the business will be expanded nationally.
22-Feb-1999


Macfarlane Group has acquired Orion Flexo, the Malvern-based packaging company, for £1.6m, as part of a strategy to provide a complete range of products in the industrial film sector.
19-Feb-1999


Sidlaw, the packaging company, has agreed a £106m takeover bid from Copenhagen-based Danisco.
19-Feb-1999


National Westminster Bank is selling Gleacher NatWest, its US corporate advisory division, to management for undisclosed terms, as part of an ongoing withdrawal from investment banking.
19-Feb-1999


Cookson has sold Cookson Fibers of the US to a US venture capital company for £93m, and has also announced a £30m restructuring programme that will result in the loss of 700 jobs.
19-Feb-1999


Wolseley has acquired five businesses for a total £38m, including heating and plumbing products in Ireland, wall panels in the US, and a sanitary ware distributor in Lancashire.
19-Feb-1999


Ibstock is selling its 76% stake in Caima Ceramica e Servicos, the Portuguese building products company, to two CGS directors for £22m.
19-Feb-1999


Coats Viyella is selling its Dynacast precision engineering business to Cinven, the venture capitalist, for £322m.
18-Feb-1999


Field Group is set to be acquired by Chesapeake of the US for £218m, following the withdrawal of Shorewood Packaging from the bidding.
18-Feb-1999


Royal & Sun Alliance is planning to acquire Tyndall Australia, the insurance and fund management group, for £300m.
17-Feb-1999


Lex Service is acquiring Havelange of Belgium and Hydraulic Services of Ireland for £7m, in order to expand its vehicle distribution business in the EU.
17-Feb-1999


Amey is acquiring Enviresponse, the environmental disaster recovery specialist, for £1.1m.
17-Feb-1999


Gresham Computing is acquiring two Australian software development companies - ISS and Ozease - for an initial £0.8m.
17-Feb-1999


Victory, the fashion and cosmetics business in which Virgin has a 56% stake, is acquiring the debt of Cadoro, the menswear retailer, and some of Cadoro's stores may be rebranded with the Virgin name.
17-Feb-1999


Jordec is diversifying out of engineering into cleaning services with the acquisition of Checkclean and Corporate Clean for £2.1m.
16-Feb-1999


Interior Services Group has acquired the H Waters property management company for an initial £3.5m.
16-Feb-1999


Prebon Yamane and MW Marshall, the over-the-counter brokers, are planning to merge to create a combined group with more than 2,000 staff in 30 offices around the world.
16-Feb-1999


Calor Gas has acquired the bottled gas business of Leicester-based Alternative Gas Supplies.
15-Feb-1999


Safetynet, the computer disaster recovery company, has undergone a management buyout for £85m.
15-Feb-1999


ITG Group is acquiring Computers in Ireland, which includes the Computerland and Work Station names, for up to £7.7m.
15-Feb-1999


Blue Circle is to sell Brotje, its German wholesale heating business with 27 outlets, to GC Group for £41m.
13-Feb-1999


Northstar Securities is buying Equator Films for £9m, in order to move its focus from property investment to the media sector.
13-Feb-1999


Appeal Blinds, the Bristol-based manufacturer of blinds for conservatories, has undergone a management buyout.
12-Feb-1999


Sytner Group, the Leicester-based prestige car retailer, has acquired Cooper in the City, the City of London BMW dealer, for an initial £0.7m.
12-Feb-1999


Emap has acquired Automotive Group, the US publisher of auto-sport magazines, from General Media for £21m.
12-Feb-1999


Inn Business has acquired Trent Taverns, the chain of 82 pubs, in a £13m deal, taking its total estate to nearly 700 pubs.
12-Feb-1999


Golden Vale has acquired Dairyborn Foods, the manufacturer of cheese-based products, for an initial £8.5m.
12-Feb-1999


Powerscreen International is selling a US subsidiary Powerscreen USB to Svedala Industries of Sweden for £5.5m.
12-Feb-1999


Chesterfelt, the Chesterfield-based roofing felt company, has been sold to a management buy-in team assembled by venture capital group 3i, for undisclosed terms.
11-Feb-1999


Danisco Pack has acquired March Packaging Group, the corrugated sheet manufacturer with sites in Hastings, Andover, Redditch and Northfleet, for undisclosed terms.
11-Feb-1999


SCA has acquired Danapak Papemballage, the Danish corrugated board producer, for £50m.
11-Feb-1999


HE Services of Kent has bought the BCP Plant Hire business from Finning for undisclosed terms.
11-Feb-1999


Southern Electric Contracting has acquired Connect South West, the Exeter-based street lighting contractor.
11-Feb-1999


Rexam is acquiring Sussex Plastics, the US cosmetics packaging company, for £19m, and is now seeking similar purchases.
11-Feb-1999


Fishers International is to acquire Pycraft & Arnold, the loss-adjuster for large insurers, for about £11m.
11-Feb-1999


Ennstone has acquired Cooper Sand & Gravel, the US quarry business, for £1.6m.
11-Feb-1999


Calderburn is selling its Dauphin office furniture manufacturing business to Daco for £1.7m.
11-Feb-1999


Ferguson International is selling its food, beverage and personal care labelling divisions to SE Labels of Norway for £13m.
11-Feb-1999


Independent Car Auctions has acquired SEA of France for undisclosed terms, which will give it new sites in Bordeaux, Marseilles and Toulouse.
10-Feb-1999


Alison Associates, the Reading-based supplier of car sales data, has been acquired by Bell & Howell of the US for undisclosed terms.
10-Feb-1999


SmithKline Beecham is selling Diversified Pharmaceutical Services, the pharmacy benefit business, to Express Scripts of the US for £427m, and its US clinical labs to Quest Diagnostics for £625m.
10-Feb-1999


Scottish Media is acquiring Primesight, the outdoor advertising agency, for £35m.
10-Feb-1999


Aggregate Industries has acquired the aggregate and trucking operations of Hammer Group of the US for £11m.
10-Feb-1999


Storyboards Harpers, the supplier of presentation services to the advertising industry, has undergone a £5m management buyout.
09-Feb-1999


Hillsdown is selling its Continental Bakeries biscuit manufacturing business to a new company created by the venture capitalist Industri Kapital for £42m.
09-Feb-1999


Rebus, the provider of insurance software and services, is to be acquired by Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic Partners of the US for £172m.
09-Feb-1999


Tomkins has acquired Aquatic Industries, the US supplier of whirlpools, for £7.8m.
09-Feb-1999


Umeco is acquiring Aerovac Systems, the supplier of vacuum bagging products to the aerospace sector, for £12m.
09-Feb-1999


Ladbroke is set to acquire Stakis for about £1.16bn, which will give it an extra 54 hotels, 22 casinos and 67 health clubs, and the Stakis head office in Glasgow is likely to close.
09-Feb-1999


Inchcape has sold its shipping services division to Electra Fleming for £47m, and is now seeking to sell its marketing services business in the Middle East and an office automation business in Japan.
09-Feb-1999


Brands Hatch Leisure is to acquire Rebel Group, the operator of two karting circuits, for up to £5.5m.
09-Feb-1999


Burmah Castrol has acquired two US lubricant businesses for £15m - Lubecon Systems of Michegan and Applied Chemicals International's performance lubricants operation.
06-Feb-1999


Watts Blake Bearne, the producer of ball clay for the ceramics industry, has agreed a £105m takeover by its largest shareholder SCR Sibelco.
05-Feb-1999


Close Brothers is acquiring the continental European operations of the US securities house Hambrecht & Quist, as H&Q has decided to concentrate its European business in London.
05-Feb-1999


Coca-Cola Beverages is acquiring Ozgorkey Coca-Cola, the third largest bottling franchise in Romania, for £15m.
05-Feb-1999


Delphi, the IT recruitment agency, has been acquired by Adecco of Switzerland for £167m.
05-Feb-1999


Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries is set to win its battle to acquire Marston Thompson & Evershed for £285m, having won 73% of shareholder support.
05-Feb-1999


Photobition, the media services company, has abandoned its £80m takeover bid for Wace, but has announced the acquisition of Service Visual Communications for £11m.
05-Feb-1999


British Telecom has acquired Arrakis, the Spanish internet service provider, for £9.5m.
05-Feb-1999


Shepherd Consulting is acquiring GRC Consultants, the Hampshire-based process engineering company, for undisclosed terms.
04-Feb-1999


Bethell Group has acquired Electricity Distribution Services, the heavy-duty cabling company, for undisclosed terms.
04-Feb-1999


Sage is to acquire Peachtree, the US software company, for £88m, in order to double its customer base to about 2m.
04-Feb-1999


Bertrams, the independent book wholesaler, is merging with Cypher, the library supplier, in a £54m deal financed by Mercury Asset Management Private Equity.
04-Feb-1999


Wright Health Group, the Dundee-based dental supply company, has acquired the dental business of London-based Cottrell & Company for undisclosed terms, which will give it the opportunity to expand in the south of England and Wales.
03-Feb-1999


Blue Circle has sold its bathrooms division, which includes nine UK factories employing 2,200 people, to American Standard for £253m.
03-Feb-1999


National Express has acquired Robinson Bus Service, the US operator of school buses in the Chicago area, for up to £14m.
03-Feb-1999


Caradon has sold Terrain, a plastic pipes subsidiary, to Geberit of Switzerland for £27m, and a number of other disposals are expected soon.
03-Feb-1999


Reg Vardy has acquired 12 motor dealerships from Caledonia Motor for £19m, and is now planning to expand further from 77 dealers to 100 by the end of next year.
03-Feb-1999


Gresham Computing is to acquire ASI, the US software solutions company, for £1.6m.
03-Feb-1999


Lyndale Foods has acquired Fords the Bakers of East Lothian, and it will now have a total of 334 shops, six retail bakeries and 4,500 employees.
02-Feb-1999


Direct Resources, the Edinburgh-based IT recruitment specialist, has been acquired by Mastech of the US for about £5m.
02-Feb-1999


H Young is acquiring Animal, the supplier of sports clothing and accessories, for about £2m.
02-Feb-1999


Senior Engineering has acquired Thornskill, the holding company for Willcox Hose, for £2.2m.
02-Feb-1999


Druid Group has acquired Gamut Technologies, the supplier of Siebel Systems enterprise relationship management systems, for £4.6m.
02-Feb-1999


Vardon, the operator of health clubs, has acquired Lyric Designs for £2.6m, and is changing its name to Cannons.
02-Feb-1999


Glynwed is selling Amari Plastics and Port Plastics to an unnamed US company for £19m, as part of a strategy to focus on its pipe systems and food services divisions.
02-Feb-1999


Unigate is planning to acquire Wessex Dairies, the milk delivery business, for £7m, which should increase the number of households served by about 10%.
02-Feb-1999


National Grid is to acquire Eastern Utilities Associates, the US electricity company, for $634m, which will be its second acquisition in New England.
02-Feb-1999


English China Clays, the industrial minerals company, is to be acquired by Imetal of France for £756m, and ECC may now seek to sell its Calgon speciality chemicals division.
02-Feb-1999


Guardian Royal Exchange, the insurance group, is to be acquired by Axa of France in a £3.3bn deal, and it will be merged with Axa's Sun Life & Provincial division.
02-Feb-1999


Inchcape is to sell its Latin American bottling operation to Embotelladora Arica of Chile for $750m.
02-Feb-1999


Thomson Travel is acquiring Simply Travel, the villa and country hotel specialist, for £22m and Scan Holiday, the Polish tour operator, for £6m.
02-Feb-1999


Chiltern Group is planning to acquire the rival tax consultancy NCS Consultants for undisclosed terms.
01-Feb-1999


LucasVarity has agreed a £4bn takeover by TRW, but Federal-Mogul is also interested in acquiring the Anglo-American car components group.
30-Jan-1999


GWR is acquiring Orchard Media, the owner of four radio stations in the West Country, for £26m.
29-Jan-1999


Misys is selling its Information Systems division to management for £28m.
29-Jan-1999


Havelock Europa has acquired the in-house printing division of Kwik Save for £0.5m, in order to expand its point of sale display business.
29-Jan-1999


Ford is to acquire Volvo's car division for $6.5bn, while the remaining Volvo truck business has announced plans to close its plant in Irvine with the loss of 250 jobs.
29-Jan-1999


P&M Vacuum Services has been acquired by Tuthill Corporation of the US and its Heywood factory will be used as the European manufacturing and distribution facility for Tuthill's industrial vacuum pumps.
28-Jan-1999


Solmek of Middlesbrough has merged with Leeds-based Pro-Soils Surveys in order to offer land reclamation services nationwide.
28-Jan-1999


Stadium Group has acquired Dextroplast, the Sutton-on-Trent building materials company, for £0.4m.
28-Jan-1999


Kemp Stroud, the Aldershot builder, has been acquired by Leonard Field of Southampton.
28-Jan-1999


Polypipe has acquired Rickmans, the Essex-based manufacturer of conservatory roofing, for £0.75m.
28-Jan-1999


CCI Holdings is transforming itself into a business software group through the acquisitions of Xavier for £15m, KSE for £11m, and CSL Xenon for £3m.
28-Jan-1999


Global Group is to acquire Plumtree Farms, the frozen meat supplier, for £5m.
28-Jan-1999


Waste Recycling has completed its merger with Yorkshire Water's Global Waste Management operation, and is also buying 3C Holdings from Yorkshire, thereby creating one of the UK's leading waste management groups.
28-Jan-1999


BDO Stoy Hayward is to merge with Moores Rowland to create an enlarged accountancy firm with about 2,500 staff.
28-Jan-1999


Internet Technology Group is acquiring Internet Facilities Europe, the Dutch internet service provider, for about £5m.
28-Jan-1999


Adwest Automotive, the manufacturer of gear shifts and engine thermostats, is to be acquired by Dura Automotive of the US for £125m.
27-Jan-1999


Johnson Service has sold its US dry-cleaning subsidiary to DCI for £30m, in order to focus on the expansion of its UK business.
27-Jan-1999


Carphone Warehouse is to buy 270 Tandy electrical stores from InterTan of the US for undisclosed terms, which will give it a total of 450 stores in the UK and 139 in continental Europe.
26-Jan-1999


Chrysalis Group has acquired Global Music Group, the German music publisher, for £4.2m, as part of a strategy to create a worldwide independent publishing network.
26-Jan-1999


Euromoney Publications is to acquire an 80% stake in Internet Securities, the US provider of financial information on emerging markets via the internet, for £26m.
26-Jan-1999


Anglo Irish Bank is to acquire Smurfit Paribas Bank, the joint venture between Banque Paribas and Jefferson Smurfit, for £27m.
26-Jan-1999


Kingspan has acquired Entec (Pollution Control), the manufacturer of mini waste treatment plants, for £2.6m.
26-Jan-1999


Partco has acquired the Plunkett motor parts factoring business from Dixon Motors for £3.2m.
23-Jan-1999


Yorkshire Water is to acquire York Waterworks, the supplier of water in the York area, for £34m.
23-Jan-1999


Sears has accepted a £549m takeover offer from Philip Green, the retail entrepreneur.
22-Jan-1999


Division, the software developer, is to be acquired by Parametric Technology of the US for £28m.
22-Jan-1999


Brown Shipley is to acquire Henry Cooke, the private client stockbroker, for £20m, in order to benefit from cross-selling opportunities.
22-Jan-1999


Industrial Contract Services has merged with Thomas Vale, the design and build contractor, to form ICS-Vale.
21-Jan-1999


The Lewis Harris Group has acquired Niwel, the Manchester-based builder with annual sales of £12m.
21-Jan-1999


Field Group is to be acquired by Chesapeake of the US for £194m, and Chesapeake will use Field as a base from which to expand into Europe and become a global supplier.
21-Jan-1999


Shell Chemicals has sold Dumo, the Belgian manufacturer of polyurethane foam, to management for undisclosed terms.
21-Jan-1999


Ford and Jardine Motors have confirmed the £28m acquisition of Dagenham Motors, through their Polar Motors joint venture.
20-Jan-1999


United News & Media is to acquire Audit & Surveys Worldwide, the US market research company, for £26m, as part of a strategy to offer a global market research service to large companies.
20-Jan-1999


Unigate is to acquire Fisher Quality Foods, the supplier of sauces and dressings, from Albert Fisher for £43m, and will combine the business with its fresh foods division.
20-Jan-1999


Unilever is to acquire Mountain Cream, the Chinese ice cream company, for undisclosed terms, as part of a long-term strategy to expand its Chinese food operations.
19-Jan-1999


EJA Engineering, the safety-switch equipment manufacturer, is to be acquired by Rockwell of the US for £50m.
19-Jan-1999


IMI has acquired Melrose Displays, the US supplier of displays to retailers, for undisclosed terms.
19-Jan-1999


Friends Ivory & Sime is to acquire London & Manchester's fund management divisions for £35m, which will increase its funds under management by 21% to £29bn.
19-Jan-1999


CGU is acquiring Tellit Assurance, the French general insurer, from Royal & Sun Alliance for £7m.
19-Jan-1999


Stagecoach is planning to acquire Citybus, the Hong Kong bus operator, for £178m, with some of the funding coming from a £140m share placing.
19-Jan-1999


Shield Diagnostics is planning to acquire Axis Biochemicals of Norway for £67m, which will enable the two companies to jointly develop tests for assessing the risk of heart disease.
19-Jan-1999


Caverdale has acquired Navyclose, the retailer of marine leisure products, for £1.6m.
18-Jan-1999


Vodafone is set to acquire AirTouch, the US cellular phone company, for $61bn, following the withdrawal of Bell Atlantic from the bidding.
16-Jan-1999


Travel City Direct has acquired Robert Davies Travel and its holiday shops in Cardiff, Caerphilly, Barry and Porthcawl.
15-Jan-1999


Readicut International is acquiring Chamberlain Coatings, the wallcoverings business, £13m.
15-Jan-1999


Tecroc has acquired Appleby Building Products and will set up a southern distribution centre at Appleby's site in Ditton, Kent.
15-Jan-1999


VHE has acquired West Cumberland Engineering, the steel fabricator and insulation contractor, for up to £2m.
15-Jan-1999


Abbey Hanson Rowe, the architectural firm, is to merge with Holford Associates, and will then seek to expand into building surveying and environmental consultancy.
15-Jan-1999


Informa has acquired the Linkraven magazine publishing business for an initial £2.1m, which will provide it with a flagship aviation title and improved access to the US market.
15-Jan-1999


United News & Media has acquired Verecom of the US, Fematec of Argentina, and Stammer of Italy, for £40m, in order to boost its Miller Freeman publishing activities.
15-Jan-1999


Dairy Crest has bought Longs Dairies for £4m, in order to strengthen its position as the leading supplier to doorstep customers in East Anglia.
14-Jan-1999


Spaceminster, the Milton Keynes-based supplier of injection moulding machines, has acquired Lupton Holdings for £1m.
14-Jan-1999


Goodwins, the Staffordshire-based confectionery and tobacco wholesaler, has been acquired by BWG of Dublin for undisclosed terms.
14-Jan-1999


Sears is to sell its Creation store card business to Groupe Cofinoga of France for £139m, and is also close to agreeing the sale of a number of development properties.
14-Jan-1999


Dudley Jenkins, the producer of envelopes and database mailing lists, is to be acquired by Wegener Arcade of the Netherlands for £81m.
14-Jan-1999


London International Group is to close its group headquarters in London and move to its European regional office in Hertfordshire, with the loss of 25 jobs.
14-Jan-1999


Eagle Marketing, the Tonbridge-based computer components distributor, has undergone a £3m management buy-in.
13-Jan-1999


Rentokil Initial has acquired eight hygiene and security companies for a total of £37m, including UK companies Crime Halt Security Systems, Wolsey Comcare Alarm Systems and Capstan Security (Wessex).
13-Jan-1999


MMP International, the Harrogate-based industrial coatings company, has been acquired by Devcon Plexus of the US for undisclosed terms.
12-Jan-1999


British American Tobacco is to acquire Rothmans International for £5.28bn, which is expected to lead to job losses in their UK and worldwide cigarette factories.
12-Jan-1999


The Post Office has acquired German Parcel for undisclosed terms, as part of a strategy to become a leading player in the European postal market.
12-Jan-1999


Regal Hotel Group is linking up with the finance company Intermediate Capital Group to acquire County Hotels for £42m, which will add 25 hotel properties to Regal's portfolio.
12-Jan-1999


Copyright Promotions Group, the sports and entertainment licensing agency, is to be acquired by ISMM of Switzerland for £20m.
12-Jan-1999


Inchcape has sold its Asia-Pacific marketing business to Li & Fung for £93m.
09-Jan-1999


Allied Domecq has sold Cantrell & Cochrane, the Irish drinks distribution business, to BC Partners for £519m, and the proceeds will be used to reduce debt.
09-Jan-1999


Williams has acquired two French fire protection companies - Proteg Incendie and Proteg Extincteur - from Securitas of Sweden for £53m.
09-Jan-1999


Bowthorpe is acquiring Wireless Telecom, the US wireless and satellite communications business, for £11m.
08-Jan-1999


Wolseley is acquiring Brossette, the French plumbing distributor, and four US companies, bringing its total spending on acquisitions to £178m in the first five months of the financial year.
08-Jan-1999


EBC has acquired NR Humphreys, the Reading-based building maintenance company, for undisclosed terms.
07-Jan-1999


Ainscough Group has acquired Peterhead Crane Hire for undisclosed terms, and opened a new depot in Hertfordshire.
07-Jan-1999


Incepta is acquiring Alexander Demuth, the German communications consultancy, for £4.3m.
07-Jan-1999


Sondex, the manufacturer of logging tools for the oil and gas sector, has sold a majority stake in the company to NatWest Equity Partners in a £10m deal.
07-Jan-1999


Hays is acquiring France Partner, the French courier company, for an initial £16m, which will increase its share of the French early-morning express delivery market to about 20%.
06-Jan-1999


Meyer International has sold Pont Meyer, its Dutch building materials division, to William Pont of the Netherlands for £56m.
06-Jan-1999


Hanson has acquired Tanah Raya Group, the Malaysian aggregates company, for £16m.
06-Jan-1999


Firth Rixson has acquired Spartan Sheffield, the specialist engineering company, for about £1.5m.
06-Jan-1999


Travelex, the operator of airport currency exchange facilities, has been sold to management for undisclosed terms.
06-Jan-1999


Wellington Underwriting, the Lloyd's insurance business, is to acquire J Linnerman, the US managing agent, for £2.5m.
06-Jan-1999


Doughty Hanson, the private equity concern, is planning to acquire Tornos Bechler, the Swiss lathe manufacturer.
06-Jan-1999


WSP Group, the consulting engineer, is undergoing a £1m management buyout to split off the project management side of the business.
06-Jan-1999


Yorkshire Group has acquired Viochrom, the Greek dyes company, for £12.8m.
05-Jan-1999


JBA Holdings is selling its North American computer hardware division to Avnet for up to £14m.
05-Jan-1999


Cable & Wireless has acquired ECRC Network Services, the German internet service provider, from ICL for £27m.
05-Jan-1999


Lavendon, the powered-access hire operator, has acquired Furg Arbeitsbuhnenservice und Vermietung of Germany for £6m.
05-Jan-1999


Berisford has acquired Convotherm Elektrogerate, the German commercial ovenmaker with net assets of about £2.6m.
05-Jan-1999


Polypipe is acquiring Pagette Sanitar Produktions, the German plastic products manufacturer, for up to £9m.
05-Jan-1999


Park Products, the Blackburn-based manufacturer of mobile lighting towers and sheet metal work, is being bought by management from its parent company Fife Indmar for £3m.
04-Jan-1999


Strutt & Parker has acquired William Hillary Leisure & Hotels, the chartered surveyor, in order to benefit from growth in the leisure property sector.
04-Jan-1999


Lynx Express has acquired Red Star Parcels to create a parcels delivery business with more than 4,000 employees and turnover of £170m.
04-Jan-1999