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.
I realise this is a bit a late in the day but a loyal reader has got in touch with an interesting nugget from Japan Tobacco's results earlier this week.
Tucked away on page 6 of Japan Tobacco's investor presentation is an intriguing line about how is looking to "expand geographically notably through acquisitions". Here is a link to Japan Tobacco's investor presentation in case you haven't read it:..
I have to admit I'm not an avid reader of Leaprate.com but it would appear this "indepedent research and advisory firm" has just landed a rather decent jackanory...
Shares in Michael Kors took a pasting yesterday - falling about 10pc - after the US fashion brand cuts its profits and sales forecasts.
So, readers might be wondering what has happened since I posited a question on New Year's eve about whether Michael Kors will strike a deal in 2017? In case you don't remember, here is a link to the piece I wrote on New Year's eve while markets were closed:..
There is a piece of Deutsche bank research floating out there in the market speculating about the possibility of a fresh takeover bid for William Hill, the listed bookmaker.
Now, readers might recall I broke the story about 888 and Rank coming together to instigate a three-way merger with William Hill in The Sunday Times last summer. In case you don't recall here is a link to that piece:..
I see Heineken this morning confirmed my Friday scoop about the market sweep the beer giant and its private equity partner carried out. In case you missed it, here is a link to today's confirmation:
http://www.investegate.co.uk/punch-taverns-plc--pub-/rns/holding-s--in-company/201702060959491022W/ ..
Patron Capital and Heneiken have been carrying out a secret raid for Punch Taverns shares, Betaville can reveal.
Good sources tell me the private equity firm and Heneiken have been buying Punch shares via stockbroker Peel Hunt during today's trading session.
So far, roughly 55 million Punch shares - or 25pc - have traded today, meaning the consortium is likely to have bought around 20pc...
Remember the tale little old Betaville broke a couple of years ago about how investors are chasing Thomas Ryan, a mystery Irish property developer, and (ex) Credit Suisse private banker Hans-Olav Eldring in the commercial courts in London after the pair of scallywags concocted a scheme to build a £1 billion residential tower in Canary Wharf that eventually vanished into thin air?..
Combing through my copy of The Times this morning I noticed Dom Walsh's story on Punch Taverns corroberated little old Betaville's piece from a few weeks ago about how Alan McIntosh's Emerald consortium had approached the billionaire Reuben brothers to back his consortium bid for the pub company.
Here is a link to the piece in The Times:..
Take a bow M&A hacks over at the venerable Wall Street Journal.
Late last night the two Danas published a tale about London-listed Reckitt Benckiser is in talks to buy US baby food company Mead Johnson for over $16 billion and today the FTSE 100 company has confirmed the WSJ's mega scoop. (see the link below)..
Last night little old Betaville headed to Squirrel on Harrington Road (no connection with myself) in South Kensington, London, where former The Times journalist Rachel Kelly and nutritionist Alice Mackinstosh held a launch party for their new health food book, the Happy Kitchen, Good Mood Food...
I got a bit caught up yesterday afternoon but I did want to reflect on what appears to be another example of a blatant "fake denial", which seem to be becoming increasingly prominent these days.
Last summer hacks at CNBC TV 18 landed a brilliant "exclusive" about how Aditya Birla / Idea Cellular and Vodafone were in the early stages of exploring a combination of their Indian operations. Here is the link:..
It's a Monday, so here is a link to today's Tip TV session with Matt Brown and the erudite Zak Mir.
http://tiptv.co.uk/ma-update-jjactelion-deal-ch2mws-atkins-deal/..
Hat tip to hacks over at German newspaper Handelsblatt, which this weekend ran the scoop about Allianz's takeover talks with QBE. Here is the link:
https://global.handelsblatt.com/finance/allianz-in-talks-to-buy-australian-insurer-qbe-692714..
This is piece (see below) from Bloomberg is a great read and demonstrates how hedge funds found an interesting "edge" on the $30 billion Johnson & Johnson / Actelion deal.
So, the UK M&A market has roared back into life with a fresh multi-billion deal announced this morning - Tesco's £3.7 billion takeover of wholesaler Booker. ..
Perhaps the FT's Axa / Generali merger rumours were just a load of hot air after all?
Yesterday, Reuters reported that Axa's CEO is "not interested in Generali" although if you read the story carefully the chief executive doesn't quite say what the headline claims.
Anyway, I will let readers decide what they think by providing a link to the Reuters piece below:..
Johnson & Johnson has finally announced its $30 billion takeover bid for Swiss pharmaceutical company Actelion.
As a result, the Bloomberg clan are out in force this morning on Twitter reminding the business world about how the financial media organisation late last year "broke" the story about Johnson & Johnson's multi-billion dollar takeover approach for Actelion...
Here is some more grim news for the City of London's stockbroking industry. Beaufort Securities, formerly known as Hoodless Brennan, has been hit by an Financial Conduct Authority restriction on its discretionary fund management business. Below is a link to the FCA restriction:
https://register.fca.org.uk/ShPo_FirmDetailsPage?id=001b000000MfH9TAAV..
It would appear the venerable Financial Times was barking up roughly the right tree when it aired the rumours about Italian insurance company Generali merging with a rival, possibly French company Axa, earlier this month. In case you don't recall here is the link:
https://www.www.betaville.co.uk/news/ft-airs-axa-and-generali-merger-rumours/..
The scribblers over at French broker Exane BNP Paribas were pushing the Japan Tobacco for Imperial Brands line hard this morning although I have still not unearthed any new facts (it's called journalism) that might substantiate their theory.
Obviously, I will let loyal readers know when I do but for the time being I have pasted Exane's note below...
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