Newsletter Edition 75
Jul 3, 2025
KKR Tops Advent with £4.7bn Spectris Takeover Offer
KKR has agreed to acquire UK-listed scientific instruments maker Spectris in a deal valued at approximately £4.7 billion ($6.5 billion), including debt, outbidding rival private equity firm Advent International, according to a report by Reuters.
The transaction values Spectris at £40 per share, including dividends, representing a 6.3% premium over Advent’s previous £37.63 per share offer. It now ranks as the largest UK public takeover announced in 2025 so far.
Following the offer, Spectris’ board has formally withdrawn its recommendation of Advent’s £4.4bn bid and unanimously endorsed KKR’s superior proposal, citing the US firm’s strong commitment and enhanced valuation. KKR had made two earlier unsolicited approaches before securing the agreement.
This acquisition adds to a growing wave of UK-listed companies being taken private by foreign buyers, as depressed valuations and sluggish IPO activity on the London Stock Exchange continue to attract opportunistic investors.
A member of the FTSE 250, Spectris is a leading provider of precision measurement and control technologies, serving customers in life sciences, pharmaceuticals, electronics, and advanced manufacturing.
KKR’s victory highlights the intensifying global competition for high-quality industrial and tech-enabled assets, particularly in Europe, where valuation gaps have created compelling buyout opportunities.
https://ground.news/article/kkr-gazumps-advent-with-47bn-bid-for-spectris
Oakley Capital Agrees $1bn Sale of Legaltech Platform vLex to Clio
Oakley Capital has agreed to sell vLex, its portfolio legaltech platform, to Clio, a global leader in legal technology based in Vancouver, in a deal valuing the business at $1 billion. The transaction marks a major milestone for Spain’s tech ecosystem, making vLex one of the few Spanish startups to reach unicorn status.
The deal is being executed through Oakley Capital Origin Fund (Origin), which will partially reinvest in the combined company alongside vLex’s co-founders, Lluís and Angel Faus.
Oakley initially invested in vLex in September 2022, backing the business to scale its AI capabilities and drive international expansion. A key turning point came with the strategic acquisition of Fastcase in the US, which helped double vLex’s revenues and significantly expand its customer base. In 2024, vLex launched Vincent, an AI-powered legal workflow platform that further transformed the business from a legal research database into a full-scale software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform serving complex legal workflows.
Today, vLex counts a majority of the Am Law 100 — the largest law firms in the US — among its clients.
Clio, which provides cloud-based legal technology for law firms of all sizes, supports over 200,000 legal professionals in more than 130 countries. Its platform covers everything from client intake and billing to e-filing and AI-powered productivity tools.
The integration of Clio and vLex is expected to create a comprehensive, end-to-end platform for the global legal industry, combining Clio’s expertise in legal operations with vLex’s capabilities in legal research and workflow automation. The firms noted significant cross- and up-selling opportunities as digital transformation continues to accelerate across the legal sector.
Oakley’s successful exit underscores the growing global demand for AI-enabled legaltech solutions, while reinforcing its investment thesis of backing founder-led businesses with strong growth potential in niche software markets.
Black Lion Leads $8B All-Cash Bid for Citgo Parent PDV Holding
Black Lion Capital Advisors has submitted an $8 billion all-cash offer to acquire PDV Holding, the U.S.-based parent of Citgo Petroleum, in a high-stakes, court-supervised auction tied to Venezuela’s unresolved sovereign debt and expropriation claims, Reuters reported.
The bid, made through the Black Lion Citgo Group consortium, is backed by institutional partners Quazar Investment, Anex Management, and Fortress Management. In addition to the $8 billion base offer, the consortium has pledged to cover court and government-related costs and to safeguard up to $3 billion in additional funds, bringing the total value of the proposal to over $11 billion.
The auction, overseen by a Delaware federal court, is part of a broader effort to resolve long-standing creditor claims against Venezuela stemming from debt defaults and asset nationalisations under the regime of former President Hugo Chávez. A winning bidder is expected to be recommended by 2 July, with final approval set for 18 August.
Black Lion’s offer significantly outpaces the initial $3.7 billion stalking horse bid submitted by Red Tree Investments earlier this year and is currently the highest known bid in a competitive process that has drawn interest from other creditors, including Gold Reserve, Rusoro, and Koch Industries.
Though Black Lion did not participate in the first round of bidding, it has now emerged as a frontrunner as Judge Leonard Stark has instructed the court’s special master to prioritise the highest-value offer, even if closing conditions are less certain.
The proposed transaction remains subject to approval from the U.S. Treasury, which must confirm whether a transfer of Citgo’s ownership would comply with existing sanctions. Historically, Treasury protections have shielded Citgo from creditor seizures due to its status as a key strategic asset and a U.S.-based subsidiary of Venezuela’s state oil company, PDVSA.
Citgo, one of the largest refiners and marketers of petroleum products in the U.S., has long been a coveted asset in the tangled legal and political saga surrounding Venezuela’s unpaid international obligations. A successful sale would mark a major turning point in a saga that has dragged on for years.
https://www.privateequitywire.co.uk/black-lion-leads-8bn-all-cash-bid-for-citgo-parent/