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.
I have been getting a lot of calls this morning about Weir Group. Yes, Weir Group - the company that went berserk on me last year after I outed its interest in buying/merging with Finnish rival Metso...
Ben Wright, one of the senior Telegraph business bods, has written a rather insightful and amusing comment piece on dealmaking entitled "when it comes to picking prices for buying and selling, we're all mugs". Here is the link:..
I think I talked a bit about 3G and Warren Buffett on Monday on Tip TV, and how the sage of Omaha's comments about working with the Brazilian billionaires again had triggered another round of SAB Miller takeover speculation...
I was looking at my Linked In profile the other day and noticed that somebody from GDF-Suez UK has been stalking me on the social network.
I'm not quite sure why I have been stalked but the last piece I wrote that involved the French group was about the company rekindling its interest in Canadian oil company Talisman Energy.
Here is a link to the piece that was published in the The Sunday Times last October:..
Moose (aka Nick Batsford) invited me back on Tip TV today. Here is a link to today's clip:
http://www.tiptv.co.uk/archives/mergers-and-acquisitions-3/..
Quindell has just put out a strategic update. In case you have missed it, I have pasted the announcement below.
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Apologies for my tardy Sunday review but just thought I would offer a hat tip to Oliver Shah over at The Sunday Times...
Apologies for the late posting Betavillers - I was out all day.
Anyway, I see Quindell has effectively confirmed my story from the weekend.
In case, you missed it, here is a link to today's statement from Quindell:..
I have had a few readers get in touch asking for an update on the Quindell situation, so here it is:..
Quelle surprise! Ball Corporation and Rexam have just announced a £4.3 billion recommend takeover offer. Here are the details from their announcement:
It sounds like Ball Corporation is about to announce a recommended £4.3 billion plus takeover offer for can maker Rexam...
It's been just over a year since I kicked off Betaville, a cheeky blog that likes to break serious business stories, dig up stock market gossip and crack a few jokes, too...
Here is something to do on a rainy Monday afternoon in mid February. Click on the link to watch me talk about M&A on Tip TV:
http://www.tiptv.co.uk/archives/mergers-and-acquisitions-2/..
Interesting piece by Reuters late on Friday evening about how US healthcare group Endo International is interested in buying Salix, a takeover target for FTSE 100-listed Shire. Here is a link:..
Bryce Elder, the stock market reporter over at the Financial Times, had an interesting snippet on Quindell in his market report today...
It sounds like the auction of Bonhams isn't going as smoothly as the ones carried out by the 200-year old auctioneer.
The owners of Bonhams hired Greenhill last year to look at "strategic options".
Since then, various parties - such as China's Poly Culture - have got into serious discussions about a deal only for it fall over at the final stages. ..
Nick "the Moose" Batsford invited back on Tip TV today. We talked about Smith & Nephew, Salix and, of course, Quindell. Click on the link to see today's clip:..
Bankers are clambering all over of this £4 billion Rexam takeover deal.
I hear Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch have just been "restricted" from publishing equity research on Rexam, which typically means these banks have been retained as advisers on the deal.
I guess it's no surprise that Credit Suisse and Bank of American Merrill Lynch have been restricted as they are corporate brokers to Rexam...
[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].