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.
It looks like the "mega" consortium has won the £2 billion auction for London City airport. Well, that's what the Financial Times is reporting this evening. Here is the link:..
So, I was just about to publish a story about how Phillip Wale, chief executive of Panmure Gordon, has held talks with rival brokers about merging when the company stuck this statement out:..
Reuters has just landed a cracking scoop about the LSE getting back into merger talks with Deutsche Borse.
Here is a link to the confirmation release:
Readers might recall the heightened speculation towards the back end of last year about British American Tobacco weighing a £50 billion break up takeover bid for Imperial Tobacco, now called Imperial Brands...
Here is a link to today's clip:
http://www.tiptv.co.uk/finance/ma-update-steinhoff-stunned-market-with-home-retail-group-bid/..
Tucked away in the news digest of today's The Sunday Times business section is an item about some of the bidders in the running to purchase Argus Media Group, which has been put up for sale by the founder's family...
Regular viewers of Tip TV won't be surprised to learn of Steinhoff's 175p a share counter bid for Home Retail Group...
It's a good to see another one man band provoke a statement from a multi-billion dollar company...
Thomas Sandell, the founder of one Europe's original "event driven" investment firms, could be about to move old Blighty.
City sources told little Betaville that Sandell has indicated to friends and colleagues he is planning to move to London from New York.
For readers unfamiliar with Sandell, he is well-know among London's hedgies for setting up Sandell as an "event driven" fund that also pursues "activism" in 1998...
My good friend Zak was in the chair today. Here is a link to today's clip:
http://www.tiptv.co.uk/finance/ma-update-speculation-surrounding-mitchells-and-butlers/..
So, I alluded to a major departure from Canaccord Genuity last week and now I have finally bottomed out the tale.
I understand Jacques Callaghan, one of the City of London's leading investment bankers, has left the beleaguered Canadian outfit for Australian investment bank Macquarie.
From what I can tell. he left Canaccord Genuity a couple of weeks ago and wasn't part of last week's cull...
It's a bit late in the day but if you have a copy of the The Times and are planning on having a quiet Friday night in then Alistair's Osborne's business comment column is worth a read. Here is a link if you haven't got a copy:
http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/columnists/alistairosborne/article4688797.ece
Canacord Geniuty appears to have tacitly confirmed my tale from earlier in the week.
In case you missed it, the broker/investment bank released dire 3rd quarter results this morning, announcing there would be a major "restructuring" resulting in job losses in the UK and elsewhere.
Here is a link to today's press release:..
I have to admit I was surprised to see US generic drugs giant Mylan return for Nordic group Meda given the market turbulence and general carnage in biotech share prices.
Hat tip, though, to the Financial Times for landing the scoop last night about the $9.9 billion takeover deal.
And I hear another Financial Times pharma takeover scoop might be about to come good. ..
Here is a tale to add to the doom and gloom that has descended upon financial markets since the beginning of the year.
It would appear there has been a bit of a cull over at Canaccord Genuity, the Canadian stockbroker that has been gobbling up British brokers in the last couple of years.
I'm told by sources that over 30 of Canaccord's UK staff were booted out yesterday - that's almost 10pc of the company's British workforce. ..
I know I should probably reign in the chest beating but global stock markets are down almost 20pc since last spring's highs, so perhaps my "top of the market" series was useful to readers after all...
It never ceases to amazes me how some of the juiciest City tales end up in the diary.
For example, the lead item in The Times City People diary reveals there is a "whisper" Michael Dobson, the veteran Schroders chief executive, is contemplating retirement and may to step down from the blue-chip, blue-blooded fund manager at the next set of figures.
Here is a link to the column:..
It's a Monday, so here is a link to today's Tip TV clip:
http://www.tiptv.co.uk/finance/ma-update-chemchina-43-billion-formal-offer-for-syngenta/..
The "mega" consortium chasing London City Airport might be, well, becoming a bit less "mega"...
[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].