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.
Jim Mellon has just dumped his entire stake in tiddler Okyo Pharma, which is developing therapies for inflammatory eye diseases and chronic pain management. Below is a link to the announcement that shows he went down from owning just over 4pc to almost 0.
Hat tip to Dom Walsh, veteran leisure hack supremo at The Times, for smoking out the private equity interest in roadside recovery group AA yesterday. Below is the link to Dom's story:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/aa-attracts-rival-private-equity-bids-w06l3wnrg..
Natixis has just booted out its chief executive.
Could this have anything to with the fact that the company's largest shareholder, BPCE, was/is plotting a takeover of the ailing investment bank?
One presumes yes.
Below is an important two paragraphs from tonight's Financial Times. ..
I see The Wall Street Journal has just "broken" an "exclusive" story about Global Insfrastructure Partners and Blackstone attempting to purchase Kansas City Southern, the US-listed railroad transportation operator. Below is the link:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/private-equity-firms-discuss-bid-for-kansas-city-southern-11596223106..
AA plc, the London-listed roadside recovery company, has come under the spotlight amid takeover talk.
People following the situation said a potential acquirer is circling AA and may have already expressed an interest in the business.
Readers should be aware that the AA is a highly leveraged company with a very small capitalisation...
I guess I can now strike IAG off the "cash calls - who is next?" list after it formally launched its near EURO 3 billion rights issue this morning. Below is the link to this morning's announcement:
I see rivals at Bloomberg have followed up Betaville's RARE ALERT from yesterday afternoon about the takeover bid for Italian machines company Industria Macchine Automatiche Spa. Below are the links:
The mystery bidder circling BT Group's £20 billion Openreach division is rumoured to be working with investment banking advisers from JP Morgan on a potential approach.
Last week Betaville Intelligence revealed the FTSE 100-listed telecoms company is said to have drawn serious takeover interest in its Openreach division from a new suitor...
The curious goings on at Telit Communications continue unabated.
Betaville hadn't noticed that after Dbay suddenly turned up on the shareholder register with almost 10pc that super secretive Hong Kong-based tycoon Tang Hao had also recently been amassing a 3.4pc shareholding in the 'internet of things' provider through his vehicle Discovery Key Investments...
IAG, the owner of British Airways, has now finally confirmed it IS weighing an equity capital raising. Below is the link to yesterday's statement:
https://investing.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article/id/7018001/..
Old Trevor Abrahmsohn really is getting himself out there.
Today the self-styled "estate agent to the rick and famous" appears in this The Times piece about his escapades selling North London piles to Russian oligarchs. Below is the link:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/inside-the-russian-oligarchs-london-property-splurge-r7bcw7l7z..
David Lenigas is back with a new venture: Lenigas PLC.
It looks like the brash serial small cap entrepreneur is launching a quasi hedge fund that plans to plough cash into resources stocks in a similar vein to the old RAB Capital. Below is a quote from Lenigas's Twitter feed...
So, BPCE chucked out a "denial" statement (see below) after a Financial Times story suggesting France's second largest banking group had been considering making an offer for the remainder of Natixis that it doesn't own...
Ping! An email arrives from Trevor Abrahmsohn of Glentree International, also known as the estate agent who sells top end piles in Hampstead (a smart of central London equivalent to the Upper West/East Sides in New York) and its environs...
For a small company internet-of-things provider Telit Communications certainly gets a lot of attention.
I guess that's to be expected if your former chief executive turns out to be a fugitive on the run from the US authorities and then an unknown Chinese outfit builds a near 16pc shareholding in your business, raising speculation the company is a takeover target for the stakebuilder...
Oh look - I see competitors over at the venerable Financial Times have published a tale about Natixis that is eerily similar to last week's alert on Betaville Intelligence. Below are the links:
https://www.betaville.co.uk/betaville-intelligence/rare-alert-natixis-said-to-part-3/..
[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].