Now analysts at Exane BNP Paribas are jumping on the 'Unilever is a target for an activist' theme.
Betaville's moles tell me the broker has just published a note suggesting the company split its developed markets business from its emerging markets business as this could generate 97pc of upside for the stock.
Yes, you read that correctly - 97pc!..
Exane BNP Paribas are jumping on the Wienerberger bid talk band wagon by adding it to its "M&A targets list". I guess that's not exactly a surprise given Betaville noted activist Petrus had turned up on the shareholder register of the Austrian brickmaker last week.
The other company the broker is touting as a target is, wait for it...ITV. Betaville has pasted some of the note below.....
Ping! An email arrives from a friendly market participant containing one of Exane BNP Paribas notes. Now, in the old days Betaville would have just copied and pasted the broker's note below, so that the wider world could share in Exane's thoughts on a company...
Poor old Michael Burt. Rival media organisations were being rather mean to him today after Exane BNP Paribas analyst published an "underperform" research note at 6:00am on Intu Properties, which suggested a takeover is highly unlikely. An hour later Hammerson announces the £3.4 billion purchase of Intu. Betaville, though, knows how difficult it is to land accurate M&A stories, so will refrain from making fun of Burt...
Shares in Imperial Brands are enjoying a little bounce today. The stock is up around 3pc because Japan Tobacco's new chief executive, Mitsuomi Koizumi, has said:
"If there is a good M&A opportunity, company will pursue regardless of size."
So, naturally speculators are putting 2 and 2 together and coming up with...well, I have pasted a note below from Exane BNP Paribas so you can see what the broker thinks...
It's been a while since market particpants theorised about what Anheuser-Busch Inbev, the world's biggest brewer, would do next. I guess that's to be expected following ABI's £75 billion acquisition of FTSE 100 beer giant SAB Miller last year...
It's only been a couple of days since shareholders voted to approve Anheuser-Busch Inbev's $100 billion takeover of FTSE 100-listed SAB Miller but already the market has moved onto pastures new, speculating about the next massive beer deal.
Yesterday, French stockbroker Exane BNP Paribas published a massive note about the latest "rumour du jour" - talk of Heineken, now the world's second largest brewer, having a crack at purchasing US-listed Molson Coors...