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.
I see arch rivals at Bloomberg have got to the bottom of the John Wood Group takeover story little old Betaville has been chasing over the last few months.
According to Bloomie, privately-owned Dubai firm Sidara is considering an acquisition of John Wood Group, which has come under pressure from its shareholders in recent months. Below is a link to the Bloomie scoop:..
With so much (attempted) dealmaking taking place at the moment the Daily Mail's business section has decided this morning to wheel out a list of ten London-listed companies it believes could be vulnerable to a 'foreign predator'.
Now, when reading through the list of Daily Mail takeover targets it struck me that there were a few companies that have already appeared in these pixels before...
Rivals at Reuters have just dug out a huge deal scoop that may have a big impact on the takeover of London-listed DS Smith.
According to Reuters, Brazilian paper and packaging giant Suzano, is poised to submit a $15 billion cash offer for US-listed group International Paper. Below is a link to the Reuters scoop:..
It's turning out to be a merger Monday in the US.
Global Infrastructure Partners and the Canada Pension Plan have struck a deal to buy US-listed energy provider Allete for $6.2 billion, or $67 a share, in cash.
Below is a link to the press release in case you missed it:..
It may be a bank holiday today in the United Kingdom but that doesn't stop dealmaking taking place elsewhere around the world.
Indeed, Scandinavian private equity house EQT announced late yesterday the $3 billion takeover of Perficient, the US-listed technology consultancy company...
Reuters have gone early with the Anglo American counter bid story, suggesting Glencore is 'studying' the possiblity of submitting a rival approach for Anglo American.
The Reuters story follows some well timed comment piece by little old Betaville's chum Oliver "Shahsy" Shah of The Sunday Times, who suggested Glencore was the most lilely counter bidder
Below is a link to the Reuters piece:..
I see arch rivals at Bloomberg have finally decided to follow up little old Betaville's UNCOOKED and RARE alerts about the recent takeover rumours surrounding US-listed Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure, the owner of renewable power assets...
Hacks at the Wall Street Journal have just landed a decent scoop about the long running Paramount Global sale talks.
According to the WSJ, Sony Pictures and Apollo, the private equity giant, have submitted an all cash $26 billion offer for Paramount, the US-listed media and entertainment conglomerate, just as the its exlusive negotiations with Skydance conclude...
Mark "The Kleinmanator" Kleinman of Sky News has been on a bit of roll in recent weeks (although not sure he can claim the bragging rights for the Banco de Sabadell takeover bid story - wink wink) so I thought it might be worth pointing out some of the most interesting nuggests from this week's City AM column...
There you go - in a highly unusual move Spanish lender BBVA has unveiled the full detail of its offer for smaller rival Banco de Sabadell on a public holiday.
BBVA is offering one share for every 4.83 Banco de Sabadell shares, valuing Sabadell at EURO 12.3 billion.
That represents a premium of 30pc above yesterday's closing price.
This bid situation looks like its about to kick off!..
It's been a while since little old Betaville has witnessed a hostile banking takeover in Europe.
But apparently BBVA is considering just that after little old Betaville smoked out its renewed interest in buying Banco de Sabadell yesterday morning...
Here is a reason why it's now almost impossible to believe anything European companies say publicly these days.
After little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alert this morning about the takeover rumours surrounding Banco de Sabadell SA a spokesperson for the company "denied" to Mark "The Kleinmanator" Kleinman that it was in sale/merger talks with BBVA...
So, it turns out Viceroy is the latest big bear to attempt a mauling of Global Life, the US-listed insurance group.
The short selling activist has just released its own note, which Viceroy claims is its "longest investigation by far".
Now for legal reasons little old Betaville isn't able to air any of the allegations Viceroy has dug up in these pixels.
If you want to read the report to make your own mind up, I suggest you go to Viceroy's website...
Now BBVA appears to be confirming little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alert from earlier this morning about the merger and takeover rumours surrounding Banco de Sabadell...
Oh look - the old Mark, "the Kleinmanator", Kleinman of Sky News appears to have picked up on little old Betaville's Banco de Sabadell UNCOOKED Alert from earlier today.
He hasn't written a full story but is out there on Twitter tweeting away. I have pasted the Tweets below in case you missed it them:..
As if every financial commentator wasn't enough, now Matt Moulding, founder of London-listed online retailer THG, has gone off on a rant about the Darktrace takeover bid.
It's his customary complaint about how the City of London gangs up on technology companies etc etc etc. Below is the full rant, which he has posted on Linked In...
There were two columns in The Times this morning suggesting that London-listed cyber security firm Darktrace may receive a counter offer to rival Thomas Bravo's £4.3 billion bid.
In his Business Commentary column little old Betaville's former The Daily Telegraph colleague and boss - Alistair 'Acebic' Osborne - writes: "who knows, Darktrace may yet lure a higher bid"...
It sounds like the bears haven't given up on Global Life, the US-listed insurer, despite the company's announcement of a $1.3 billion share buy back.
In case you don't recall, little old Betaville first alerted readers that bears were circling Global Life at the beginning of last month. Below is a link to that piece:
https://www.betaville.co.uk/news/bears-circle-global-life-inc/..
[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].