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.

REVEALED: David Cameron lined up for a senior role with at ex Morgan Stanley banker's Greensill Capital

Tuesday, 15 May 2018, 10:00 pm

Here is a juicy snippet: David Cameron, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, is said to be in talks to join Lex Greensill's financial services group.

According to sources claiming to be familiar with the matter, Mr Cameron has been holding discussions with Mr Greensill over the last twelve months about working for his firm in a senior advisory role...

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Betaville Intelligence

RARE ALERT: On The Beach Group said to ... - part 2

Friday, 11 May 2018, 10:47 pm

Goodbye Richard Segal, non-executive chairman of On The Beach Group. It emerged yesterday he is moving on from the holiday booking firm after five years as non-executive chairman.

Good riddance is all Betaville can say.

That's because Segal went beserko after Betaville got hold of a legimate story about the company hiring NM Rothschild as a "defence advisor" last year...

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Bull markets, activists and deals - part 2

Thursday, 10 May 2018, 9:38 am

Exane BNP Paribas are jumping on the Wienerberger bid talk band wagon by adding it to its "M&A targets list". I guess that's not exactly a surprise given Betaville noted activist Petrus had turned up on the shareholder register of the Austrian brickmaker last week.

The other company the broker is touting as a target is, wait for it...ITV. Betaville has pasted some of the note below.....

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That Clydesdale Bank bid for Virgin Money...

Tuesday, 8 May 2018, 8:39 am

Oh look - Clydesdale Bank has finally made a takeover approach for Virgin Money, saying it submitted an offer for the challenger bank on May 7 (yesterday).

That comes after a rather prescient comment piece by Iain Dey, the outgoing business editor of The Sunday Times. Below is a link to Iain's article:..

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As(s?)bury - part 4

Monday, 7 May 2018, 11:32 am

Now it has become clear why J Sainsbury and Walmart's Asda are attempting to come together: Amazon is having a serious sniff around the UK for a potential acquisition target.

Oliver Shah over The Sunday Times has the skinny on what the giant american tech giant has been looking at, so click on the link below if you missed yesterday's scoop from the intrepid hack:..

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Bull markets, activists and deals

Wednesday, 2 May 2018, 6:27 pm

You can tell it's a bull market (and maybe the top of the market?) when an activist emerges on a company register, pushes for new independent board members and hardly anyone in the London market blinks.

The latest is Petrus Advisors, which has reportedly bought a 3pc stake in the listed German brick maker Weinerberger, and has proposed two new independent directors for the company's supervisory board...

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As(s?)bury - part 3

Tuesday, 1 May 2018, 5:53 pm

Betaville assumes the venerable merchant bank NM Rothschild no longer works for long-time client Wm Morrison after emerging as the sole and lead adviser to Asda/Walmart on its £15 billion merger with J Sainsbury...

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As(s?)bury

Sunday, 29 April 2018, 11:50 am

So ... it turns out J Sainsbury is in merger talks with Walmart's Asda to create a £15 billion supermarket giant.

But who "broke" story, arguably one of the biggest UK deal scoops of the year?..

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Damaged Goods: The Inside Story Of...-part 3

Wednesday, 25 April 2018, 10:25 pm

It's out!

Yes, that's the book being penned by a certain hack at The Sunday Times about a well-known retail tycoon.

For legal reasons, Betaville can't really get into the nitty gritty of the book but click on the link below if you want to know who the tome is about and how to order it on Kindle:..

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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].