Betaville

Bears lick Telenet Group Holding N.V.

Here is something you don't see very often - one of Europe's fearsome stockmarket bears publicly declare it is bullish on a business.

Yesterday, Fraser Perring tweeted:..

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Deals, Deals, Deals ... in a bear market - Part 36

Quite a few of little old Betaville's competitors are rolling out their deal prediction pieces for 2023 ahead the holiday period.

Reuters, in particular, has been very enthusiastic publishing a piece about a slowdown in dealmaking whilst two days earlier suggesting there could be a boom in pharmaceutical deals in 2023. Below are the links:..

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Markets live with Betaville featuring: Volution, Ageas and Elementis, again... - Part 2

So, it would appear little old Betaville's snouts were bang on the money about Premier African Minerals, an Aim-listed Lithium miner.

This morning Premier African Minerals gave an update on its Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project in Zimbabwe. Below is the link:..

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Markets live with Betaville featuring: Volution, Ageas and Elementis, again...

Chums over at The Blind Spot invited little old Betaville back onto Markets Live, a live forum for talking about what's moving markets and stocks.

I have pasted the link below if you missed the chat with the charming Izabella Kaminska, a former FT hack who runs the site:

https://the-blindspot.com/spot-markets-live-transcript-19-12-2022/..

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Deals, Deals, Deals ... in a bear market - Part 35

Dealmaking in Europe may have slowed over the last few months but over in the US the takeover transactions keep on coming.

Late on Friday private equity firm Advent International announced the acquisition of Maxar Technologies, the space and sattelite technology company, for $53 a share in cash - a whopping 129pc premium to the undisturbed share price. Below is a link to the press release:..

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Manchester United on the market, reveals Sky News - Part 5

It's pretty unusual to see a controlling shareholder talk on the record about a strategic review process of a listed company but that's what happened yesterday evening when The Athletic snagged an interview with Avram Glazer, one of the main shareholders in Manchester United, at the World Cup in Qatar...

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Manchester United on the market, reveals Sky News - Part 4

Amazon is latest US technology giant to have been touted as a bidder for Manchester United, the US-listed Premier League footbal club.

Well, that's according to football focused The Athletic, which is now owned by the New York Times. So, below is an updated list of runners and riders rumoured to be participating in the Manchester United auction:

1. Amancio Ortega, founder and chairman of Inditex, owner of Zara...

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Bears maul Vivion Investments ...

Muddy Waters has said it is short the credit of Vivion Investments, a Luxembourg headquartered real estate manager and investor with EURO 1.4 billion of bonds outstanding.

Now, little old Betaville can't recall the last time a short seller has come out with public short campaign against the credit of a company. Typically, these type of short selling research outfits focus on the equity of publicly-listed firms...

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Merger Monday returns ...

It's been a while since several deals have been simultaneously announced at the beginning of the week but there is a possibility of it happening today.

That's because overnight the likes of the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and Bloomberg were all reporting US-listed biopharmaceutical company Amgen is close to buying Horizon Therapeutics for around $116.5 a share or around $26 billion. Below are the relevant links:..

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Weekend review: Vodafone, Superdry and Asos...

Chums on The Sunday Times had a decent haul this weekend.

Jamie "Nimmers" Nimmo landed the splash (lead item) in the business section about FTSE 100 giant Vodafone and his tale seemed to suggest activist investor Cevian may be looking to re-build a shareholding in the business following the departure of Nick Reid, the chief executive. Below is a link to Nimmers's story:..

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When The Genteel Hustler met The Kleinmanator...

A fascinating interview has just been published in the Press Gazette.

The interviewer is The Genteel Hustler, otherwise known as Will Turvill, an incredibly polite but very persistent young hack. The interviewee is The Kleinmanator, otherwise known as Mark Kleinman, City Editor of Sky News and one of the most profilic merger and acquisition scoopsters working in UK media. Below is the link to the piece:..

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Cabot weighs £300 million sale of Premier Modular - Sources

There may be a deal brewing at Premier Modular, the fast growing British construction company that builds accomodation and offices for big projects, such as the Hinkley Point nuclear power station.

People with direct knowledge of the situation said Cabot Square Capital, which owns a majority stake in Premier Modular, is working with investment banking advisers at Macquarie on "strategic options" for Premier Modular...

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FTSE 100 giants Vodafone, Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser are potential takeover targets for predators, report Bloomberg

Bloomberg is suggesting Vodafone may now be a takeover target following its chief executive's decision to step down and poor share price performance.

Below is the link the Bloomie piece by former The Sunday Times hack Sabah Meddings...

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Bob Diamond said to eye Credit Suisse banking bid, reveals The Sunday Times - Part 2

Buccaneering Bob Diamond is facing some stiff competition for Credit Suisse's new (or old) CS First Boston unit.

According to hacks at the Wall Street Journal, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is considering an investment of around $500 million to back the new Credit Suisse unit and its boss Michael Klein, the veteran dealmaker. Below is a link to the WSJ tale:..

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