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.
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...
Here is an interesting snippet on XL Group's £2.7 billion takeover of Lloyd's of London insurer Catlin...
Bloomberg is really boosting its coverage of the Aer Lingus takeover situation. The newswire has just pumped out another article:
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..
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..
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...
Hat tip to Harriet Agnew for producing a highly amusing "City insider" column in yesterday's Financial Times...
I see British Airways owner IAG has finally confirmed my first ever RARE alert, which was published on January 2, 2015...
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).
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/..
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. ..
Does Martin Hughes watch Tip TV?..
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:..
For those readers following the IAG/Aer Lingus situation, there was more information in this morning's FT Alphaville markets live session. In case you missed it, here is a link:
I see the Irish Independent is reporting that British Airways owner IAG has submitted a raised indicative offer for Aer Lingus, pitched at between EURO 2.40 a share and EURO 2.60 a share. Here is a link to the Irish Independent's piece: http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/aer-lingus-shares-rise-on-talk-of-renewed-iag-bid-30878537.html..
It's that time of the year when commentators, analysts and hacks like to make predictions. But there have already been so many articles in the last few days about what might happen in 2015 that I'm not sure I'm going to be able to add much more to what has been already speculated...
It's the new year, so I have decided to introduce a new concept to little old Betaville. It's called the "RARE" alert. The boys over at FT Alphaville have got their "RAW", so I am going to have my "RARE"...
Happy new year Betavillers!..
Dixons Carphone!
According to Thomson Reuters, the electrical goods retailer has risen by about 70pc this year and is on course to finish 2014 as the top performing FTSE 100 stock.
I am rather pleased about Dixons Carphone topping the 2014 leaderboard as it was little old Betaville that broke the story back in February about Carphone Warehouse holding merger talks with Dixons Retail. In case you have forgotten, here is a link to that story:..
[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].