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.
Friday, 19 October 2018, 5:43 pm
Global has been gobbling up so-called "out of home" advertising at the pace of knots.
The radio company - run by Ashley Tabor, son of betting magnate Michael Tabor - has recently spent the best part of £700 million on Primesight, Outdoor Plus and Exterion, which has the contracts with Transport for London to advertise on the London underground.
That deal pits Global - which owns Capital, LBC and Heart FM - against outdoor advertising market leader JC Decaux...
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 18 October 2018, 8:10 pm
Betaville notes Reuters just published an "exclusive" about Acadia Healthcare weighing a sale after receiving expressions of interest from private equity firms, such as KKR and TPG Capital. Below is a link:..
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Wednesday, 17 October 2018, 10:57 pm
So, Alison Brittain can rest easy. Why?
Well, apparently Nelson Peltz's firm was seriously considering targeting Whitbread for the corporate raider's new London-listed fund (https://www.trianinvestors1.com) but City souces said Trian recently decided against such a move.
And it's not just because Brittain has struck a deal to sell Costa Coffee to Coca Cola for £3.9 billion...
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Monday, 15 October 2018, 8:48 pm
I have to apologise to hacks at Bloomberg - it would appear Betaville didn't realise the news agency published its Gatwick scoop on Friday night.
Indeed, according to the timestamp on the Bloomie piece the news agency's article came out at 18:56 on October 12 but the Irish Independent's piece quoting Bloomberg and its reporters came out on October 14th, so not quite sure what's happened there.....
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Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 15 October 2018, 7:44 pm
The mystery buyer circling Acadia Healthcare, the US listed rehab treatment group, is said to be American private equity giant KKR.
Sources claiming to be familiar with the matter said KKR may have already approached Acadia Healthcare about a takeover deal.
These sources claiming to be familiar with the matter said KKR is being advised by Goldman Sachs and could be willing to pay up to $48 a share...
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Monday, 15 October 2018, 4:00 pm
At first sight it would appear hacks over at Bloomberg followed my scoopette in this weekend's Mail on Sunday about the looming £10 billion Gatwick Airport sale. Below is a link to the Irish Independent's rip off yesterday's Bloomberg follow up, which is dated October 14th (yesterday):..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersMonday, 15 October 2018, 3:35 pm
Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 11 October 2018, 2:57 pm
The mystery buyer circling Equiniti, the London-listed share registrar, is said to be a private equity firm.
According to sources claiming to be familiar with the matter, the private equity firm interested in buying Equiniti is said to be GTCR, a Chicago-based buy-out outfit.
These sources claimed GTCR could be willing to pay between 315p and 325p a share for Equiniti...
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Wednesday, 10 October 2018, 9:04 am
One moment it was on, the next it was delayed and then it was back on track after cutting the price.
But today the circus that is the Vannin Capital float comes to an abrupt end after the company said it has pulled its float because the "volatility experienced in the equity market in the last two weeks has led to conditions that are not conducive to an IPO"...
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Betaville IntelligenceTuesday, 9 October 2018, 8:39 pm
Oh look - I see Bloomberg has just landed a "scoop" about Zynga, the American mobile gaming company, drawing takeover interest. Below is the link:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-09/farmville-maker-zynga-said-to-draw-interest-from-gaming-rivals ..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersTuesday, 9 October 2018, 2:15 pm
Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 8 October 2018, 6:58 pm
The Kleinmanator of Sky News landed a good tale yesterday about Schroders and Lloyds Banking Group looking at tie up of their wealth management units. And this morning the scoop was confirmed. Below is a link to the confirmation:
https://www.investegate.co.uk/schroders-plc--sdr-/rns/response-to-media-speculation/201810080700052425D/..
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Friday, 5 October 2018, 9:07 am
Take a bow David Hatcher. The Estates Gazette hack nailed last night's Intu takeover scoop, forcing a confirmation from a billionaire, Canadian institutional investors and secretive Saudis who hate to talk about anything. Below is a link to Hatcher's tale:
https://www.egi.co.uk/news/brookfield-prepares-bid-for-2-1bn-intu/..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersThursday, 4 October 2018, 4:31 pm
Thursday, 4 October 2018, 11:37 am
Looking over yesterday's coverage of Casino it becomes a little bit clearer to Betaville what last months bid / non bid shenanigans were all about...
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Wednesday, 3 October 2018, 10:01 am
If you have been following the fortunes of Wirecard over the last couple of years then this piece (see the link below) by the venerable Financial Timesis worth a read.
Wirecard, a digital payment processing company, was recently promoted to the Germany's blue chip index Dax after seeing its shares surge over the last couple of years and its market cap grow to EURO 23 billion.
But the chaps at the FT have had a bee in their bonnet about Wirecard since 2016.....
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Monday, 1 October 2018, 11:05 am
So, it would appear litigation funder Vannin Capital is moving ahead with its flotation on the London Stock Exchange despite a set back with a case against Costa Rica.
Betaville understands Vannin's brokers at Jefferies and Barclays sent out Vannin's pathfinder prospectus today with a view to listing the company by mid-October with a valuation of between £600 million and £700 million...
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersFriday, 28 September 2018, 4:26 pm
Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersThursday, 27 September 2018, 4:23 pm
Wednesday, 26 September 2018, 6:44 pm
Apparently, Matt Hancock told David Cameron this week that if the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is still at loose end he could always "work as a special adviser" (also known as SPAD) for the Secretary of State for Health...
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[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].