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.
There is talk circuclating the London market that Boohoo or its directors are currently buying a load of the embattled company's shares.
Perhaps, then, that's why the stock - which has been hammered over the last couple of days following allegations about the treatment of its workers - has leapt over 30pc at pixel time.
Either that or the shorts, such as Matt Earl's Shadowfall, are taking profit...
I see Bloomberg reported overnight that Medtronic has approached smaller medical devices maker Intersect about a takeover deal. Below is the link to a piece on Bloomie.
You may have missed last weekend's Mail on Sunday business section, so I have pasted the link below to a piece I wrote about The Analyst, a small but growing research firm that claims to have been the first to identify issues at Wirecard.
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-8490357/Briton-spot-fall-Wirecard.html..
RockRose Energy is being taken out for £18.50 a share in what is one of the first outright takeover deals of a London-listed business since the pandemic began.
The purchaser is Viaro Energy, a privately-owned commodity trading group run by an Italian entrepreneur called Francesco Mazzagatti.
RockRose Energy, run by Andrew Austin, traded up £22.30 a share in mid January, so I guess the offer from Viaro doesn't look too bad...
Rolls-Royce has finally confirmed it is considering an equity capital raising of up to £2 billion and this "news" has made the front pages of national newspaper business sections, such as The Times. Below is the link to the piece in The Times:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rolls-royce-plummets-as-it-seeks-to-boost-finances-z8w58g0v6..
Remember when Vin Murria unveiled in early May a 13.25pc stake in M&C Saatchi?
Recently reports emerged via the Kleinmanator of Sky News that the tech entrepreneur had been refused a board seat for "corporate governance reasons".
Well, Betaville hears Murria may come to regret building that shareholding in the advertising agency, which has been beset by accounting problems over the last twelve months...
Charming Crispin Odey told a former Telegraph colleague, Katherine Griffiths of The Times, yesterday that he now plans to sue the German regulator for introducing a short selling ban on Wirecard last year. Below is the link to Katherine's excellent piece:..
I thought I would let the venerable Financial Times bathe in the glory of its Wirecard investigation for a few days before publishing this post.
I have to admit the FT's series of articles on Wirecard is one of the finest pieces of financial journalism I have witnessed since I began my career on The Daily Telegraph's City desk all those years ago...
Natixis, the French banking group, announced after the market closed that it had signed an agreement with La Banque Postale to combine their fixed-income and insurance-related asset management businesses to create a powerhouse with EURO 415 billion under management. Below is the link to the press release:..
Global Infrastructure Partners is said to be the financial investor interested in purchasing Kansas City Southern, the US-listed railroad transportation company.
People following the situation have heard rumours GIP - which used to own Gatwick Airport and London City Airport in the United Kingdom - has been "running the numbers" on Kansas City Southern, said people following the situation...
I see El Negocio has jumped on the Kansas City Southern bid rumour. Below is the link:
https://elnegocio.es/guerra-de-private-equities-por-comprar-kansas-city-southern/
The general thrust of El Negocio's piece is that Blackstone, the US private equity giant, is circling the transportation group.
Let's see.....
So, it looks like Betaville will have to remove easyJet from the "cash calls - who is next?" list after the low cost airline announced an emergency placing to raise up to £450 million this evening...
Does anybody else think yesterday's business splash in the The Sunday Telegraph about the Public Investment Fund accumulating a sizeable shareholding in BT Group is connected to the FT's scoop last month about Macquarie holding talks with the FTSE 100-listed telecoms giant about buying a stake in Openreach?..
Investors that have taken a punt on Tiziana Life Sciences in recent weeks were nicely rewarded today after the shares closed up almost 27pc.
In part, the shares surged because the company - which is working on treatments for a variety of diseases, including Covid 19 - was awarded a key patent.
Below is the link to today's announcement in case you missed it:..
It's not even a year since Advent International bought defence and aerospace group Cobham as part of controversial £4 billion take private deal.
But well-placed sources tell Betaville the private equity firm is already making moves that I suspect that might eventually upset Lady Cobham, Daily Mail readers and, possibly, the government...
Roll up, roll up: one of Betaville's favourite young hacks is starting an intriguing new project that is worth paying attention to.
Yes, William Turvill - formerly of the Mail on Sunday's business section and Press Gazette - has teamed up with some chums to create series of Zoom interviews with top entrepreneurs, chief executives and financiers...
It would appear former colleagues at The Sunday Times got wind of the Clinigen takeover tale, too.
Yesterday, the business section of the The Sunday Times ran a rather similar tale to Betaville's UNCOOKED Alert from a ten days ago. Below is the link:..
[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].