A cheeky website about deals, dealmakers and anything else I find interesting. Edited by Ben Harrington. If you have a tip, want to discuss a story or have a subscription enquiry please feel free to email Betaville at [email protected]. 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.

Permira weighs takeover of France-listed Exclusive Networks, reveals Reuters

Friday, 15 March 2024, 7:23 am

Hat tip to Amy-Jo Crowley.

The intrepid Reuters hacks dug out a decent deal scoop yesterday that little old Betaville happened to be chasing down, too.

According to Crowley's report, private equity house Permira is looking at taking private the French cyber security company Exclusive Networks after approaches from rivals about a deal. Below is a link to Amy-Jo's whole report:..

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The former Chancellor of the Exchequer, the boutique investment bank firm and, er, insert anything they are both involved with here... - the series returns - Part 7

Friday, 15 March 2024, 7:02 am

Reports emerged overnight in the Financial Times and Bloomberg that Redbird IMI may now be looking to offload The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator after British parliamentarians moved to block the sale of the titles to the Redbird IMI investment vehicle backed by the United Arab Emirates. Below is a link to the FT piece:..

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British Land should merge with Land Securities to create £8 billion generalist property giant, argues Oliver Shah in React News

Thursday, 14 March 2024, 10:03 am

Oliver "Shahsy" Shah has gone big today in his React News column by calling for an £8 billion merger of British Land and Land Securities. Below is a link to the piece by The Sunday Times hack:

https://reactnews.com/article/shah-on-property-why-the-time-may-have-finally-come-for-british-landsec/..

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AstraZeneca snaps up Amolyt Pharma for over $1 billion

Thursday, 14 March 2024, 7:19 am

There has been talk that perhaps dealmaking in the biopharmaceutical industry was waning following the the string of deal announcements in December 2023.

However, AstraZeneca has just put paid to that theory by announcing another takeover deal. This time the FTSE 100-listed company has agreed to purchase Amolyt Pharma, a France-based company focused on developing novel treatments for rare endocrine diseases...

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Bears maul Eurofins Scientific SE, again!

Monday, 11 March 2024, 3:36 pm

Bears have once again sunk their teeth into Eurofins Scientific, the Luxembourg-based French testing company.

Word reaches little old Betaville that Shadowfall - the activist short selling firm led by Mathew Earl, dubbed by some as the "dark destroyer" - published another note a couple of weeks ago about Eurofins containing some allegations...

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Just Group may be a takeover target, reports The Times

Saturday, 9 March 2024, 7:10 pm

The Times today also reports that specialist London-listed insurer Just Group may be a takeover target.

Well, the suggestion is effectively hooked on some quotes from Barrie Cornes, an analyst from Panmure Gordon.

Now old Barrie Cornes has been covering the British insurance market as a stockbroker scribbler since little old Betaville was a cub reporter on The Daily Telegraph's City desk a long time ago...

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The newspaper, the dealmakers and the dealmaking...

Saturday, 9 March 2024, 6:57 am

You really know when you in the middle of a dealmaking boom when British newspapers start profiling the investment bankers that put the deals together.

And this morning chums and former colleagues on The Times business section did exactly that.

So, if you are interested in the rainmkers who have been working on the deals announced in the last few days and weeks then I suggest clicking on the link below:..

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Pollen Street grabs Mattioli Woods for £432 million

Friday, 8 March 2024, 7:28 am

Mattioli Woods is the latest London-listed company to leaving the stock market.

The wealth management and pensions advisory company has agreed a deal to sell itself to private equity house Pollen Street for 804p a share or £432 million, which is just over a 32pc premium.

Now, I would paste the link to the full press release below but little old Betaville is struggling to find it on the regulatory news services this morning.....

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Vimeo said to draw takeover interest from Bending Spoons, reveals Bloomberg

Tuesday, 5 March 2024, 7:10 pm

Arch rivals at Bloomberg decided to run the Vimeo takeover rumour that has been circulating the European markets over the last couple of weeks.

According to Bloomie, Italian mobile app developer Bending Spoons is consdering a takeover of US-listed video hosting company Vimeo and has been talking to banks about doing the deal. Below is a link to the scoop:..

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Deals, Deals, Deals ... in a bear market - Part 63

Tuesday, 5 March 2024, 8:06 am

The UK is still proving to be a fertile hunting for overseas predators.

This morning US-based technology company Viavi announced the £1 billion plus takeover of Spirent Communications, the London-listed telecommunications testing company.

Below is a link to the full details of the 175p a share in cash offer for Spirent, which was also announced alongside a set of rather stinky results:..

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Boeing in talks to by SpiritAerosystems, reveals the Wall Street Journal

Friday, 1 March 2024, 4:37 pm

The Wall Street Journal has just landed another cracking stateside deal scoop.

According to the WSJ, Boeing is in discussions to acquire SpiritAeroSystems, its struggling former unit at the center of numerous quality issues affecting 737 Max jets.

The aircraft parts supplier has hired bankers to explore strategic options and has had preliminary talks with Boeing, according to the WSJ..

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Direct Line said to have received and rejected Ageas takeover approach, reveals Bloomberg

Wednesday, 28 February 2024, 12:25 pm

Arch rivals at Bloomberg have pulled their socks up a bit and are digging out a few decent scoops again.

According to Bloomie hacks Jan-Henrick Foerster and Pamela Barbaglia, ailing FTSE 250-listed insurer Direct Line received a takeover approach from Belgian insurer Ageas.

However, the approach was rejected, according to Bloomie. Below is a link to the Bloomberg scoop:..

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Betaville Intelligence

UNCOOKED ALERT: Viking Therapeutics Inc said to ... - Part 3

Tuesday, 27 February 2024, 4:21 pm

Eli Lilly and Company's pursuit of Viking Therapeutics, the US-listed biopharmaceutical company developing obesity drugs, may have stalled.

People following the situation had heard speculation Eli Lilly had been trying to buy Viking for between $40 and $50 a share with a view to announcing a deal last week.

However, Viking decided the indicative price wasn't good enough and opted to announce its drug data, said people following the situation...

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Saturday review: Crest Nicholson, RS Group and Watches of Switzerland...

Saturday, 24 February 2024, 11:15 am

Chums over at The Times have run a double page spread in the business section about the British mergers and acquisitions market.

Indeed, within the piece there were plenty of the customary on the record quotes from investment bankers talking up the prospect of more dealmaking but without getting so specific as to get themselves into hot water. Below is a link to the piece:..

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Betaville Intelligence

RARE ALERT: Marlowe said to ... - Part 2

Thursday, 22 February 2024, 10:29 am

It would appear little old Betaville's RARE Alert about London-listed Marlowe published on Tuesday was barking up the right tree.

Today, Marlowe confirmed it is selling off a sizeable division of the company to a private equity firm. Below is a link to this morning's press release with all the gory details and Tuesday's RARE Alert:..

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Tags: Marlowe

[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].