A cheeky website about deals, dealmakers and anything else I find interesting. Edited by Ben Harrington. If you have a tip or want to discuss a story please feel free to email Betaville at ben@betaville.co.uk. 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.
The London Stock Exchange finally swatted away Hong Kong's £32 billion takeover proposal. Below is the link:
Several weeks ago Betaville copped an earful from a person close to Thomas Cook on a rare Sunday off for a piece I wrote in the Mail on Sunday's business section about the tour operator's restructuring. Below is the link:..
It struck me as odd whilst re-reading this morning's press release from Hong Kong Exchange that Moelis & Company, a mid-sized American M&A advisory firm, is the sole advisor to the Asian bourse on its takeover bid for the London Stock Exchange...
Well, that didn't take long. Just a few days back from the summer holidays and Hong Kong Exchange launches a £32 billion pound takeover deal for the London Stock Exchange, which is itself trying to merge with Refinitiv.
Below is the link:
Another day, another confirmation for little old Betaville's RARE Alerts. This morning, ADM Energy - formerly known as MX Oil - announced an equity fundraising to raise over £800,000 at 7p a share. Below is the link:
Arthur J Gallagher & Co, the US-listed insurance broking giant, is negotiations to buy privately-owned Capsicum Re for around £200 million.
People following the situation said Arthur J Gallagher & Co has been holding talks with Graham "Chily" Chilton, the veteran insurance broker and founder of Capsicum Re about buying the business outright...
ADM Energy, the Aim-listed oil producer, is looking to raise around £500,000 via an equity fundraising.
People claiming to be familiar with the matter said broker Peel Hunt and a mystery investor are backing the fundraising for the business, which looks for oil off the coast of Nigeria.
Unusually, the new shares will be issued at a premium to the current share price of 6.38p, with one person following the situation suggesting it the fundraising could be priced at 7p...
The City of London should be cranking back into fourth gear this week as the summer holidays come to an end. I guess, then, it isn't surprising that there were plenty of compelling tales in the Sunday newspaper business sections today...
The merry-go-round of broking in the City of London, Canary Wharf and Mayfair continues unabated with Oliver Hemsley set to join Zeus Capital.
Hemsley, the son of a Rutland pig farmer, has joined Zeus Capital as a "strategic consultant" and started at the firm this week, according to sources familiar with the matter...
Simon Cawkwell, the bear raider known as Evil Knievil, has built up a substantial long position in Watchstone and is now claiming it could be worth up to 345p a share.
Now, regular readers might find that a bit surprising given the mischevious shorter was rather bearish on Quindell (Watchstone's former name) before it entered into talks with Slater & Gordon to sell most of the business for £637 million to the Aussie ambulance chasers...
Premier Foods, the London-listed food company, has hired advisers from Morgan Stanley to run a sale of all or some of the business.
Sources familiar with the matter said Premier Food's board recently appointed Morgan Stanley alongside D'Angelin & Co, an advisory boutique, to manage the sale of some of the company's flagship brands, such as Mr Kipling cakes...
Who says the political crisis driven by Brexit is holding up dealmaking in the City of London?
City sources said Allied Glass - which makes bottles for Diageo whisky such as The Macallan, Grant’s and Balvenie – has been put on the market by CBPE, a private equity firm.
Bankers from Baird have been appointed to find a buyer willing to pay around £180 million for Allied Glass...
Oh look - I see Bloomberg has just published a "scoop" about Cox & Kings appointing bankers from Lazard to find a buyer for Meininger Hotels, the Berlin-based budget hotel chain. Below is a link:
There is a young financial hack in the London market who is fast distinguishing himself with some excellent journalism.
His name is William Turvill of the Mail on Sunday and rival business journalists from Financial News were on Twitter yesterday praising one a recent interview with Savvas Savouri, the blunt but amusing economist from Toscafund...
It's turning out to be one of the busiest Augusts in M&A land for quite some time.
US-listed tobacco giants Philip Morris International and Altria have just announced they are in talks about a $210 billion merger of the cigarette makers.
Over in the UK there have been multi-billion pound bids for Peppa Pig creator Entertainment One and pub company Greene King during what is typically considered the quietest months of the year for takeover transactions...
It would appear Betaville spoke (or is it wrote) too soon about the current lack of summer football M&A stories involving top-end Premier League clubs.
Just a few days after Betaville's piece earlier in the week the The Times sports writers landed a rather good scoop about an American outfit's attempt to buy Sunderland. Below is the link to a follow up piece by in the venerable Financial Times:..
Sierra Wireless, the Nasdaq-listed wireless equipment designer, is rumoured to have rekindled merger talks with Telit Communications, the Aim-listed internet of things company.
People following the situation claimed the recent bout of talks come after Sierra Wireless, which is based in Canada, last year looked at buying part and all of Telit...
[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].