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.
Thursday, 22 January 2015, 7:24 pm
So, here are some of the (eye-popping) numbers being talked about for Slater & Gordon's purchase of Quindell's legal services division.
To start with, when talks first began I am told by sources that Slater & Gordon said it will pay a non-refundable £15 million to enter into exclusive discussions with Quindell.
Since then, the Australian law firm has been crawling over of Quindell's legal services (QLS) business, doing due diligence...
Read more...
Thursday, 22 January 2015, 3:53 am
Here is a juicy jackanory - top sources inform me that listed Australian law firm Slater & Gordon is in exclusive discussions to buy Quindell's legal services division.
I understand Slater & Gordon, one of the first law firms to go public, has been working with advisers from Greenhill on the purchase of QLS.
Codex, an advisory boutique, is one of the firms working for Quindell's board, according to my sources...
Read more...
Wednesday, 21 January 2015, 9:02 pm
I see Reuters is reporting US pharmaceutical company Salix has hired bankers from Centreview Partners to look at strategic options. Here is a link:..
Read more...
Tuesday, 20 January 2015, 10:37 pm
It appears Chinese property giant Dalian Wanda has put its plans to purchase a Premier League football club on hold...
Read more...
Monday, 19 January 2015, 11:55 pm
Moose (Nick Batsford) invited me back onto Tip TV this morning and let me ramble almost uninterrupted for 10 minutes. Here is a clip of today's monologue on M&A by me: ..
Read more...
Friday, 16 January 2015, 6:31 pm
ZhenHua Oil. That is the name of the "mystery" Chinese company I referred to in yesterday's blog post, according to my reliable sources...
Read more...
Friday, 16 January 2015, 2:25 am
Wow - embattled oil explorer Afren has leapt 33pc to close at 28.7p!..
Read more...
Wednesday, 14 January 2015, 8:11 pm
If you are following the Quindell saga, I picked up another interesting titbit on the insurance claims group yesterday that I thought I might share with loyal readers...
Read more...
Tuesday, 13 January 2015, 8:43 pm
Here is an interesting snippet on XL Group's £2.7 billion takeover of Lloyd's of London insurer Catlin...
Read more...
Tuesday, 13 January 2015, 8:10 pm
Bloomberg is really boosting its coverage of the Aer Lingus takeover situation. The newswire has just pumped out another article:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-13/ryanair-keen-to-sell-aer-lingus-stake-as-iag-considers-fresh-bid.html..
Read more...
Tuesday, 13 January 2015, 7:05 pm
DJI Holdings, the Aim-listed Chinese lottery operator that I mentioned last week on Tip TV, has just announced it has signed a partnership contract with Manchester City Football Club. Here is a link:
http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Club-news/2015/January/DJI-holdings-announcement..
Read more...
Tuesday, 13 January 2015, 2:24 am
Bloomberg is today reporting that IAG is planning to raise its EURO 1.3 billion offer for Aer Lingus to EURO 2.50 a share. Here is a link to the story: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-12/british-airways-owner-iag-said-to-plan-higher-bid-for-aer-lingus.html..
Read more...
Monday, 12 January 2015, 3:05 am
The biggest deal of the weekend never made it into any of the Sunday papers - Shire's $5.2 billion acquisition of US biopharmaceutical company NPS...
Read more...
Sunday, 11 January 2015, 1:42 am
Hat tip to Harriet Agnew for producing a highly amusing "City insider" column in yesterday's Financial Times...
Read more...
Saturday, 10 January 2015, 3:09 am
I see British Airways owner IAG has finally confirmed my first ever RARE alert, which was published on January 2, 2015...
Read more...
Saturday, 10 January 2015, 1:42 am
If Elliott Advisers voted against today's Scheme of Arrangement to take Prezzo private, then it looks like the American hedge fund lost out by a small margin.
According to today's press release, just over 20pc of Prezzo shareholders voted against the Scheme (typically, you need 75pc approval from shareholders).
..
Read more...
Friday, 9 January 2015, 10:03 pm
It was great to be invited back onto Tip TV this morning and catch up Nick "The Moose" Batsford. Here is a link to today's clip: http://www.tiptv.co.uk/archives/2014-review-and-a-peek-at-some-upcoming-ma/..
Read more...
Friday, 9 January 2015, 4:34 pm
Looking over this morning's coverage of yesterday's trading update from Aer Lingus it struck that little has been made of the shenanigans going on between the Irish carrier and its stalker IAG. ..
Read more...
Thursday, 8 January 2015, 7:39 pm
Does Martin Hughes watch Tip TV?..
Read more...
Wednesday, 7 January 2015, 5:03 am
I think the Prezzo shareholder vote scheduled for this Friday at Olswang's offices is about to get rather fruity. Secretive hedge fund group Elliott Advisers has just now declared it owns a stake of almost 14.5pc in Prezzo and word is the fund was trying to gobble up more stock in the market today. Here is a link to Elliot's declaration:..
Read more...
[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].