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.
It's tough to get excited about bid tales in this awful bear market. But today there was a line tucked away in the Alex Brummer's column in the business section of the Daily Mail that might give bulls something to chew over...
"Airlines have got shareholders who should put THEIR hands in their own pockets". That's what Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Transport, just said when asked about whether UK-based airlines should be given government-backed bailouts on Radio 4 this morning...
Was anybody aware that Sir Paul Marshall, one of Britain's most sucessful hedge fund managers, had written a book?
Well, Betaville certainly wasn't until intreprid hack Tom Teodorczuk at Financial News discovered the founder Marshall Wace, which manages about £40 billion, published the book a few weeks ago. Below is a link to Tom's scoop:..
Clearly, there are more important things happening in the world at the moment than mergers & acquisitions.
In fact, the global crisis has effectively completely upended the dealmaking market, with Bloomberg reporting that many M&A bankers are trying to reinvent themselves as restructuring advisers...
Ping! HSBC's HedgeWeekly publication arrives with the performance figures of Europe's best and worst performing hedge funds.
Now, given Crispin Odey has been a big bear since 2015 and this weekend the old buffer told Betaville he had made £115 million in March you might expect his flagship fund to be the best performer...
It sounds like there is more to the sale of Robert Tchenguiz's 6pc shareholding in FirstGroup than meets the eye.
Last week, brokers to the flamboyant property entrepreneur forced him to sell is investment after he failed to come up with the "margin" (cash to fund the leveraged position held by spreadbetting firms), say people following the situation...
Robert Tchenguiz may have bailed out of FirstGroup but his chum at Coast Capital is upping its shareholding in the bus and rail company.
According to a regulatory filing, activist investor Coast Capital now owns almost 14pc of FirstGroup. See the link below:
https://www.investegate.co.uk/firstgroup-plc--fgp-/prn/holding-s--in-company/20200324084116P13C6/..
Loyal readers might have noticed an interview piece with Crispin Odey written by yours truly in this weekend's Mail on Sunday. Well, below is a link in case you missed it:
The mystery surrounding LVMH's intentions to buy Tiffany for $16 billion continues.
This morning LVMH has issued a statement that it is "currently committed" to NOT buy shares in Tiffany. Below is a link:
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/03/23/2004503/0/en/LVMH-Press-Release.html..
So, Tiffany's shares leapt almost 14pc last night to $126 after Bloomberg reported LVMH is looking at ways to take advantage of the discount to its £$135 offer price by buying stock in the market. Below is the link to the Bloomie scoop:..
Poor old Robert Tchenguiz. Yesterday, the property entrepreneur said he had sold his 6pc shareholding in FirstGroup, the bus and rail company he has been pushing to break itself up by spinning off its US businesses...
So, according to Bloomberg, Crispin Odey's uber-bearishly positioned fund is already up by 20pc this month.
Now, it would be easy to take pop at the old cassandra for shorting the market into a public health crisis but the thing is he has been directionally short for the last four years and, as a result, suffered excruciating losses over the last five years...
Wow: Tiffany is down almost 10pc, trading around $115 a share.
That's quite a discount to LVMH's $135 / $16 billion cash offer price. I guess Gasparino was barking up the right tree on Friday with his note about punters placing bets on the deal falling through - although I'm not quite sure how that would work in practicality...
I realise people, politicians and markets are rather preocupied at the moment with something very imporant but for a bit of light relief I note the return of Gerard Griffin to Britain's business pages.
Now, younger readers will likely to be saying: "who he?"...
When I interviewed Crispin Odey last month the old buffer said it was "highly probable" the FTSE 100 could end up at the 5000 level by the end of the year (I did have to ask him that question). Below is the link:..
Market turbulence and fears over a recession is clearly hitting dealmaking. Today, for example, Aston Martin and Lawrence Stroll have re-cut the fundraising deal with the Tommy Hilfiger tycoon as the embattled carmaker needed an extra £20 million.
Stroll, though, is getting a better deal with his consortium partners receiving 25pc of the company in return for £171m at a price of £2.25 per share...
Just to underline the point, Moss Bros this morning announced it is being sold to the owner of Crew Clothing. Michael Shina, for 22p a share. Below is a link today's announcement, which sent Moss Bros's shares 50pc higher!
It's hard for market practitioners to get enthusiastic about bid stories in this (almost official) bear market.
But let's not forget there have been three major deals announced this week - and it's only Wednesday!
On Monday, for example, insurance broker Aon agreed a $30 billion all share deal with Willis Towers Watson and Tesco announced the £8.2 billion sale of its Thai and Malaysian business to CP Group...
Marc Boyan, the chief executive of Aim-listed Reach4entertainment Enterprises, is said to have informally sounded out M&C Saatchi, the London-listed advertising agency, about a takeover of the business.
People following the situation said Lord Michael Grade, the former chief executive of ITV who sits on the board of Reach4entertainment as chairman, recently approached M&C Saatchi on Mr Boyan's behalf with the approach...
Perhaps charming Crispin will be proved right after all?
Two weeks ago I interviewed the the veteran hedge fund manager and asked him whether he thought the FTSE 100 index could end up at 5000 by the end of the year.
Odey - whose predictions of a stockmarket crash over the last four years have so far been proved to be spectacularly wrong - said that the FTSE 100 at 5000 was "highly probable". Below is a link to the interview in the Mail on Sunday:..
[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].