SAC Capital Advisors UK's Massimo Amati, Stanislas de Caumont and Robert Harris have agreed to join rival hedge fund Balyasny Asset Management. Other portfolio managers and analysts are departing SAC after the firm decided to shut down its London office.

London-based global advertising firm DraftFCB has acquired independent creative agency Inferno in a takeover transaction that could give the agency a market valuation of £20 million.

Washington-based international law and lobby powerhouse Patton Boggs LLP has ended merger discussions with Texas-based law company Locke Lord LLP, according to a joint statement on December 19.

New York-based innovative learning company EdTech has landed $51 million in a funding round led by London venture firm Atomico to take personalized learning on a global scale.

Hutchison Whampoa, a conglomerate controlled by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing has picked Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and HSBC to manage the proposed listing of A.S. Watson in Hong Kong and London.

Glasgow, Scotland-based growth equity and venture capital firm Scottish Equity Partners (SEP) said it will boost its total portfolio investment from £40 million last year to £60 million this year.

London-based broadcaster ITV Plc has sold its remaining 6.79% stake in Scotland-based broadcaster STV for £7.5 million, severing a shareholder relationship that goes back to the 1990s.

A capital gains tax set to take effect in April 2015 which would be levied on the homes sold to people living abroad could diminish the status of London as a property magnet for foreign investors, Bloomberg reported.

Hong Kong-based private equity firm Gaw Capital Partners is set to purchase minority stakes in four commercial property acquisitions in the UK and the US, in a deal with a total value of USD1 billion.

According to the UK-based "Global State of Enterprise Mobility for the Past, Present and Future" report, mobile apps could be the most invested-in startups in 2014.