The top 3 stories from today's briefing, narrated as a short audio episode.
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Briefing Notes
M&A
EasyJet agrees in principle to £5.5bn Castlelake takeover bid, valuing the airline at a 73% premium
Gatwick slot rights and CMA market power review are the two live wires in any EasyJet take-private.
Energy & Tech
Sky agrees £1.6bn acquisition of ITV's television network operations in a deal that reshapes British broadcasting
Media plurality review, not competition analysis alone, is the live risk that could block or condition the Sky-ITV deal.
Capital Markets
Banks argue that a Bank of England leverage rule tweak could unlock significant new demand for UK government bonds
Leverage ratio exemptions for gilts could reduce the UK's borrowing cost by expanding the structural buyer base for sovereign debt.
Banking & Finance
UK manufacturers warn of £85bn economic hit as high industrial electricity prices squeeze margins and threaten operative viability for one in ten factories
Energy price exposure is now a credit risk variable lenders must price into UK manufacturing sector facilities.
AI & Law
AI-native law firm founder says Anthropic's Claude has made his three-lawyer practice compete with much larger firms by automating grunt work
A three-lawyer firm competing with large practices via AI reframes the trainee value proposition: judgment matters, drafting volume matters less.
Regulation
UK government tightens rules on overseas political donations to block foreign funding of domestic political parties
Corporate donors with cross-border ownership structures face the sharpest compliance exposure under tighter overseas donation rules.
International
UK consulting sector cements global leadership as professional services exports grow 9%, with legal and advisory firms driving cross-border revenue
English law's global primacy is a structural competitive advantage that Brexit has not materially eroded, yet.
Disputes
Law firms that won the most cases at the US Supreme Court this term are identified, with one boutique dominating the pack
Specialist appellate boutiques, not full-service firms, win the most high-stakes cases at the highest courts on both sides of the Atlantic.