Betaville

Global Blood Therapeutics said to draw takeover interest, reveals Bloomberg

Global Blood Therapeutics, a US-listed biopharmaceutical company, is a business that has been on Betaville's radar for quite a few years amid vague rumours.

Now, though, arch rivals at Bloomberg are reporting that the company - which makes drugs for sickle cell disease - is working with advisers amid takeover interest from larger rivals...

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Intelsat in talks to merge with SES, reveals the Financial Times

Rivals at the Financial Times landed a cracking scoop overnight about US-based satellite operator Intelsat holding merger talks with SES, a Luxembourg-based rival.

The tale comes hot on the heals of OneWeb's merger with France's Eutelsat.

Clearly, none of these satellite operators wants to be the last company standing on its own when the consolidation round ends.

Anyway, below is a link to the FT scoop:..

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Deals, Deals, Deals ... in a bear market - Part 22

To reinforce the point Betaville was making earlier today - Thoma Bravo has just struck a deal to buy US-listed Ping Identity Holding Corporation for an enterprise value of $2.8 billion.

That's a whopping 60pc premium!

Below is a link to this morning's press release:..

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Bears maul Victoria PLC

Ever heard of Iceberg Research?

Well, neither had little old Betaville until it just published a short selling note on Victoria PLC, the London-listed carpets and flooring group.

Anyway, Iceberg is rather scathing about the Victoria, which has carried out multiple acquisitions over the years. Below is a link to the Iceberg note:..

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Deals, Deals, Deals ... in a bear market - Part 21

It's that time of the year where folk in the City of London tend to put their feet up as colleagues drift away on summer holidays in the Meditteranean.

And this summer bankers, lawyers and private equity practitioners are all doubly keen to get away for as long as possible after the last two years...

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Markets live with Betaville featuring: Audioboom (again), Ferguson and Blackline Inc

I'm not sure Betaville has ever had a US takeover story confirmed ten minutes after publishing it but that's exactly what happened during today's Markets Live session hosted by my chum Izabella Kaminska, formerly the editor of FT Alphaville, on her https://the-blindspot.com website.

Anyway, I have pasted the link below to today's transcript in case you missed it:..

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NatWest weighing up £2 billion plus takeover offer for Quilter, reveals the Mail on Sunday

The Mail on Sunday's hardworking business section dug out this weekend's biggest deal scoop.

According to Amy-Jo Crowley's report, NatWest - the bank that was formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland - is in the early stages weighing a takeover bid for FTSE 250-listed Quilter. Below is the link:..

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Equity issues...

Ping! A note arrives from Quest, the cashflow analysis unit of broker Cannacord Genuity.

The writer is James Congdon, the analyst who has consistently predicted cash calls by Aston Martin, the luxury car marque. (see - https://betaville.co.uk/news/bears-paw-astin-martin-lagonda-part-2/)..

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The spinners, the hacks and the podcasts...

Little old Betaville has noticed there appear to be a growing number of super senior City hacks getting involved with podcasts set up by super senior flacks (also known as financial public relations executives).

This trend appears to have been kicked off by Jonathan Ford, former Financial Times Lex and leader writer, and Neil Collins, former City editor of The Daily Telegraph...

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Valentino said to be in talks to buy Armani for around EURO 5 billion, claims Mergermarket

Independent Italian fashion houses are notoriously difficult to purchase but reports are emerging that Armani might be willing to sell itself to Valentino for around EURO 5 billion.

Well, that's according to rivals at Mergermarket (one of little old Betaville's former employers)...

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Eutelsat Communications said to be in merger talks with OneWeb, according to Bloomberg - Part 2

Hat tip to the Bloomberg hacks for digging out the Eutelsat / OneWeb merger scoop over the weekend but unfortunately the deal appeats to have gone down like a cold bag of sick with some of the French company's investors.

Eutelsat's stock sunk almost 18pc as the French company confirmed the Bloomie scoop about a possible takeover of/merger with rival satellite firm OneWeb. Below is the confirmation in case you missed it:..

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Eutelsat Communications said to be in merger talks with OneWeb, according to Bloomberg

Arch rivals at Bloomberg have just broken a decent story about Eutelsat Communications holding merger talks with OneWeb this afternoon.

According to Bloomie, British satellite firm OneWeb is nearing a deal to combine with France’s Eutelsat Communications in a transaction that would create a pan-European operator that could better compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink project...

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Bears circle Pinduoduo Inc...

Some of the stockmarket's more ferocious bears are rumoured to be circling Pinduoduo Inc, a Chinese agricultural-focused technology platform that is also listed in the US.

Quite why these bearish types have been pawing away at Pinduoduo Inc remains to be seen but Betaville assumes any theory is likely to be, er, rather fruity.

Now, Betaville had never heard of Pinduoduo Inc until this tale was mentioned to me today...

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Aurelius in talks to buy Footasylum from JD Sports, reports Sky News

Betaville spotted an intriguing Tweet from Mark, "The Kleinmanator", Kleinman of Sky News just now.

According to Kleiny (a former colleague during my long stint on The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph's City desk) JD Sports in is exclusive talks to sell Footasylum to Aurelius, the sucessful private equity outfit that likes to buy out-of-sorts businesses. Below is Mark's Tweet:..

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