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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.

Quindell shares suspended!

Wednesday, 1 April 2015, 7:35 pm

Quindell's shares have been suspended, which seems to have caused mass panic and triggered all sorts of wild speculation.

Well, I have been told that the reason for the suspension comes down to more of technical issue rather than anything else.

Anyway, I'm sure we will find out soon enough...

UPDATE:

Ben Martin over at The Daily Telegraph appears to have discovered the reason for today's announcement:..

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Merger Monday...or not

Tuesday, 31 March 2015, 5:57 am

A whole bunch of deals were announced today, with the US pharmaceutical industry witnessing another frenzied round of consolidation...

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Sunday review - Krafty 3G, BHS and the French poacher turned gamekeeper

Monday, 30 March 2015, 1:52 am

There are some excellent investigative features knocking around in today's business sections.

I particularly enjoyed Oliver Shah's piece in The Sunday Times on some of the murky characters behind the purchase of BHS from Sir Philip Green.

The intrepid hack appears to be leading the way in bottoming out who was behind this rather opaque deal and their backgrounds. Here is a link to Oliver's piece:..

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Village gossip - dealmakers' digest goes on the block

Thursday, 26 March 2015, 12:10 am

Revealed: Private Equity International could be about to change hands for between £35million and £50 million.

I understand the company behind Private Equity International, PEI, has hired advisers from Livingstone Partners to look at "strategic options", which could result in a sale of the publishing, conferences and training business.

First round bids for PEI are expected to be submitted in the next few weeks, according to my moles...

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Krafty 3G - part 2

Wednesday, 25 March 2015, 8:55 pm

I see SAB Miller's shares are only down about 0.5pc despite today's announcement about the 3G-backed $40 billion Heinz takeover of Kraft.

Perhaps the market isn't dismissing the idea of an SAB Miller deal following today's news after all. I should have more on this situation later on the week, so keep an eye on Betaville...

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Krafty 3G

Wednesday, 25 March 2015, 2:08 pm

I imagine SAB Miller's shares will be hit hard this morning as the Wall Street Journal revealed overnight that 3G, the fund managed by a group of Brazilian billionaires, is in talks to buy Kraft for more than $40 billion.

The newspaper claimed 3G is pursuing Kraft through Heinz, which it bought a couple of years ago, and is likely to merge both companies.

Here is a link the WSJ story:..

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The online gaming merry-go-round

Wednesday, 25 March 2015, 2:05 am

The Daily Telegraph's Ashley Armstrong has just written an interesting piece on 888 Holdings, the online gaming company that recently saw takeover talks with William Hill fall apart.

The report quotes the company's executive chairman as saying that 888's main founding shareholders would be supportive of an all-share merger with another gaming company.

Here is a link to the piece:..

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Aussie lawyers Slater & Gordon in exclusive talks to buy Quindell's legal services division - part 14

Sunday, 22 March 2015, 10:17 pm

I hope your having a good weekend Betavillers.

I have been getting a lot of questions (and a fair amount of abuse, too) in recent days about the Slater & Gordon/Quindell story I have been covering in the last few weeks.

For readers that don't recall, the £640 million sale of Quindell's legal services division to Australian law firm Slater & Gordon had been scheduled to be announced tomorrow...

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Market caps

Friday, 20 March 2015, 5:22 pm
I see Birmingham-based manufacturer IMI snuck its out announcement about the appointment of Lord Robert Smith of Kelvin as its new chairman on Budget day - a good day to release information when you don't want to pesky hacks to dig into your press release as newsrooms are overloaded with economic and political stories from the Chancellor. See the link:..

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RARE alert: Shire's next deal could be "transformational"

Wednesday, 18 March 2015, 5:17 pm

It's Budget day (here in the UK), so here is a piece of RARE that is completely unconnected to one of the busiest days in financial/political journalism.

I hear Shire's next deal is likely to be "transformational".

Since Flemming Ornskov took the helm of pharmaceutical giant he has carried out quite a few major deals, such as this year's $5.2 billion acquisition of NPS or the $4.2 billion purchase of ViroPharma in 2013...

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Beard

Wednesday, 18 March 2015, 12:41 am

The Times business section had a cracking front page today, with Gideon Spanier landing a juicy scoop about how The Mirror Group, publisher of The Daily Mirror, is trying to buy The Daily Express and The Daily Star from Richard Desmond...

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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].