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A cheeky website about deals, dealmakers and anything else I find interesting. Edited by Ben Harrington. If you have a tip, want to discuss a story or have a subscription enquiry please feel free to email Betaville at [email protected]. Betaville can also be reached at Whats App, Signal or Telegram. Betaville's Twitter handle is @bharringtonw11 and you can message me via Twitter with stories.

Hunting for Foxtons

Monday, 27 October 2014, 5:45 pm

If you are interested in the fate of Foxtons, the London estate agent everybody loves to hate, then Martin Waller's commentary column in The Times today is definitely worth a read.

In today's business comment, the veteran writer notes speculation that Jon Hunt - the founder of the estate agency who sold the business at the top of the London property market in 2007 to private equity investor BC Partners - may be interested in buying the company back...

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The missing skyscraper story rumbles on...

Monday, 20 October 2014, 12:03 pm

Ping - an email arrives from a new reader.

It contains a picture of chap called Mr Seamas Daly, an Irish businessman who founded a printing company called Photo Images Ltd. He is picketing outside a law firm based in Dublin, Ireland.

..

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Paulson on Abbvie decision to ditch Shire deal

Thursday, 16 October 2014, 2:48 am

John Paulson's fund is clearly not happy about Abbvie's decision to examine backing out of the Shire deal. Here is what Paulson, who is a big shareholder in both Abbvie and Shire, has just told Bloomberg:..

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Ferrovial consortium said to be closing in on £1 billion airports deal

Wednesday, 15 October 2014, 2:55 am

Here is an interesting snippet on the sale of three airports by Heathrow Airport Holdings.

I have been told that the consortium comprising Spain's Ferrovial, Australia's Macquarie and Singapore fund GIC are close to finalising the £1 billion acquisition of Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton airports.

I know this story has been comprehensively covered in recent weeks but my sources tell me the deal might be announced at the end of this week. ..

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Village gossip - has Bootle called off £100m sale of Capital Economics?

Thursday, 9 October 2014, 6:53 am

What has happened to strategic review of Capital Economics, the economics consultancy founded by well-known economist and Daily Telegraph commentator Roger Bootle?

Readers might recall that in June 2013 I broke the story while working at Financial News that Capital Economics had hired advisers from Quayle Munro to work on a strategic review (banker parlance for a sale)...

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Whimper...or not - part 2

Wednesday, 8 October 2014, 12:16 am

I see Hewlett-Packard yesterday indicated that it is considering further dealmaking after confirming its demerger plans...

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Pub gossip - part 5

Tuesday, 7 October 2014, 2:07 am

Scribblers round at Goldman Sachs last Friday published a particularly bearish note on Marston's, the FTSE 250 pub company, and reiterated the shares are a "conviction sell". Ouch. ..

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Pizzas and burgers

Monday, 6 October 2014, 11:48 am

Old Russell Chambers got a mention in Dominic Walsh's diary column in The Times last Friday...

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Supermarket sweep

Thursday, 25 September 2014, 9:32 pm

Mike Ashley's multi-million pound punt on Tesco has certainly caused a stir in the London market this morning...

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[Disclaimer - the information on Betaville does not consitute any form of investment recommendation and is not intended to be relied upon by readers in making, or refraining from, any investment decisions].