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.
Little old Betaville's has had a lot of enquiries from readers about where the Twitter auction has got to since I wrote about it a month ago in a RARE ALERT. And this week's news that Twitter will stream Disney's Stars Wars content has really got readers scratching their heads about the sale process. Here is a link to the announcement:..
It's lucky I re-started the "flag pole alert" series a few weeks ago (click on the link if you don't recall - https://www.www.betaville.co.uk/news/flag-pole-alert-the-series-returns/) as Japan Tobacco has just carried out some organisational changes and that has got a few of Betaville's Imperial Tobacco watchers a bit hot under the collar...
Brokers at Bank of America Merill Lynch were yesterday pushing the line that a Severn Trent takeover by infrastructure funds is back on the cards (see below the original note).
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XIO Group, a private equity firm backed by funds from mainland China, has held tentative discussions with BC Partners about buying Mergermarket Group, the online deals news and data service read by thousands of dealmakers around the world...
After last week's Actelion shenanigans, here is a link to this morning's session with Jenny and Zak with, among other things, a little update on the situation. If your interested click on the link below:
Actelion has just confirmed it has received a £17 billion takeover approach from Johnson & Johnson. Meanwhile, Dominic O'Connell, former The Sunday Times business editor and now a presenter on Radio 4, has just Tweeted this:..
Actelion is currently up just over 15pc and various hacks are claiming the "scoop" despite the fact the story hasn't even made into hard newsprint yet in one of the "newspapers of record" (Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Telegraph etc) or been confirmed by the Swiss company itself...
Robert Montague hasn't featured in British business sections for quite some time. Perhaps, though, that's a good thing for him because the last time the entrepreneur hit the headlines the company he built into a FTSE 100 business - Tiphook, a container and truck leasing business - was imploding and Montague was declared bankrupt with personal debts of £30 million...
Today's Autumn statement from Philip Hammond confirms my Tory banker chums were bang on the money about the Chancellor of the Exchequer's move to keep the current stamp duty regime in place...
Remember J.C. Flowers & Co?..
Below is what the charming Crispin Odey wrote in his latest report to investors.
It's rather short (typically his missives are at least a 1000 words longer) and somewhat abstract. I guess that's what happens when you have a terrible year (last time I checked poor old Crispin was down around 43pc year to date)...
It wasn't just Zak interviewing me today on Tip TV...
Click on the link below to watch today's Tip TV session:
This isn't earth shattering news but probably interesting for deal watchers in Britain's retail sector.
This week I learned that UK-based private equity firm Bridgepoint has hired investment bankers from Baird to work on a secret project for Hobbycraft, one of Britain's largest arts and craft retailers. Banking sources claimed to me that Baird had been appointed to carry out a strategic review (banker parlance for sale) of Hobbycraft...
I note Bloomberg earlier this week published a tale about Mediclinic taking a look at Amana Healthcare, a private medical-care provider in the United Arab Emirates. According to the newswire service, Amana has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to explore a sale that may value the company at $400 million...
I see my former employer, The Daily Telegraph, has picked up on a theme little old Betaville has been writing about for the last month or so. Today, the venerable newspaper splashed the main book on a campaigning piece - dubbed 'Stamp duty' - advocating major changes to the tax (for readers outside of the UK you have to pay stamp duty when you purchase a property). Here is a link to the The Daily Telegraph's splash story:..
It's a Monday and Zak was in the mood to talk about politics. I tried, though, to keep it corporate. Here is a link to today's session:
Little old Betaville has been running now for a couple of years and has developed a bit of a following in the City. And some readers are now even offering to write pieces for little old Betaville.
So, as a bit of an experiment, below is a contribution from a certain “Mr Shears”. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
A contribution from Mr Shears:
There’s many a slip twixt cup and lip, as my old boss used to say...
Reuters landed a good story earlier this week about a US biopharmaceutical company called Merrimack Pharmaceuticals carrying out a "strategic review" (banker parlance for a sale or sale of assets). Here is a link to the Reuters piece:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-merrimack-pharma-m-a-idUSKBN1342QZ..
I realise Trump is the only major news story in town at the moment but here's a little tale for the mid-market dealmaking village back in Blighty.
Word is private equity firm ECI is closing in on a £100 million sale of upmarket caterer Rhubarb, which has contracts with the Royal Albert Hall and Goodwood Estate...
Little old Betaville was greeted with rather pleasant news this evening after he returned from a session in the pub with a few ex-Telegraph chums.
One of little old Betaville's American scoopettes was effectively confirmed after the US market closed yesterday...
[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].