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.
Do you remember the take private of suit retailer Moss Bros just as last year's stock market collapse kicked off in earnest?
The owners of Crew Clothing offered just over £22 million for Moss Bros in mid March 2020 but then tried to wriggle out of the deal once stock markets around the world plunged over 30pc...
If you were wondering how Patrick Drahi's Altice managed to suddenly turn up with a 12.1pc stake in BT Group then you should read Alistair Osborne's column in today's business section of The Times.
According to Alistair's piece, Drahi's advisers at Morgan Stanley and BNP Paribas bought most of the stock on their own accounts in small batches via derivatives and then handed it over to Drahi's sub-3pc holding. Below is the link to the full column:..
Hat tip to David Hatcher, intrepid property hack and founder of real estate site React News.
Hatcher has just dug out a cracking scoop about the the iconic department store Selfridges being put up for sale by the Weston family. Below is a link to Hatcher's piece if you want to read the whole story:
https://reactnews.com/article/4bn-selfridges-for-sale/..
Patrick Drahi, the French telecoms billionaire, has finally revealed his hand regarding his interest in BT Group.
This morning Altice, the telecoms company controlled by Drahi, has revealed it has bought a 12.1pc in the London-listed telecoms giant.
Now, for loyal followers of my work news of Drahi's interest may not come as too much of a surprise...
The Times is now reporting that Hosking Partners, run by veteran stock market investor Jeremy Hosking, is now demanding a "radical" shake up within the board of Foxtons. Below is the link:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/investor-calls-for-shake-up-at-foxtons-rm0ghcv29..
Betaville notes Boatman Capital has finally released its latest short selling report via yesterday's The Sunday Telegraph.
The target of Boatman's ire is coal miner Thungela Resources, which is being demerged from London-listed mining giant Anglo American.
Boatman reckons Thungela may be worthless. Below is a link to the research outfit's report explaining why it has placed a zero price target on the company:..
The private equity buy outs are just getting bigger and bigger.
Hacks at the venerable Wall Street Journal have just broken a story about a Blackstone-led consortium closing in on a $30 billion acquisition of US-based Medline Industries Inc, which manufactures and distributes equipment and supplies used in hospitals, surgery centers, acute-care and other medical facilities in over 125 countries. Below is the link to the WSJ scoop:..
Apparently scribblers at Jefferies said they "see little in yesterday's noise" [in reference's to Betaville's UNCOOKED Alert] around IMI but would be surprised if private equity, which is "awash with cash", weren't looking at the engineer.
What sort of a ridiculous comment is that.....
There was one story that caught my eye in the British Sunday newspapers' business sections yesterday - The Sunday Times excellent scoop on Foxtons, the London-listed estate agency that it is reviled by home buyers and investors...
The mysterious short seller that targeted London-listed Babcock International is set to release a "new" report.
Boatman Capital has just warned its Twitter followers that:
"Time for The Boatman to set sail again. Look out for a new report from us soon."
Whether that's a fresh report on Babcock International, which sells engineering services to defence companies, or another company altogether remains to be seen...
It's deal mania in Britain at the moment, so it's a perfect time for analysts to speculate about more deals, especially as FirstGroup recently agreed a sale of First Student and First Transit to Nordic private equity firm EQT for $4.6 billion...
Another day, another couple of private equity buy outs on the table for London-listed companies.
This time Morgan Stanley Infrastructure has confirmed Bloomberg's overnight story about a possible offer for Augean, the hazardous waste treatment group. Below are the relevant links:..
It looks like Mike Ashley's intentions may have been lost in translation for Manager Magazin.
Frasers Group, the company the maverick entrepreneur controls, just said it has no plans to big for Hugo Boss AG. Below is the link:..
The Daily Mail's campaign against private equity industry clearly isn't putting off the buy-out barons from buying yet another UK-listed company...
Have you ever seen a UK-listed company's board recommend a cash takeover offer for a business but at the same time stress it fundamentally undervalues the business?
Well, that is what has just happened this morning at Telit Communications, the Aim-listed 'internet of things' designer that can't stop generating controversy...
[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].