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's been quite a while since Betaville has seen David Rothnie's by-line appear on the front pages of the business section of a British national newspaper.
But today Rothnie - former investment banking editor at Financial News - turned up with a stunning tale about Bob Diamond weighing an offer for Credit Suisse's dealmaking advisory unit, which is now called CS First Boston...
Ageas, the Belgian insurance company, is rumoured to be on bid alert amid a fresh round of takeover talk.
People following the situation have heard rumours Ageas is working with bankers at NM Rothschild on a "defence" mandate ahead of potential takeover interest.
The move follows speculation earlier this year that one of parties interested in buying Ageas is based in France, with some people following the situation noting talk BNP Paribas has been eyeing the company...
There are still a few old school British story-getting hacks operating in the London market and Dominic Walsh of The Times business section is one of them.
No surprises then that Dom has managed to dig out a line from an interview with Steve Richards, the boss of cinema chain Vue, about how he might be interested in combining Cineworld (or bits of it) with Vue...
Arch rivals at Bloomberg have finally picked up on the Natura & Co Aesop spin off story.
Loyal readers might recall little old Betaville published in an UNCOOKED Alert last week about the takeover interest in Aesop and followed up in the Mail on Sunday this weekend...
So here is a first: it's taken so long for one of little old Betaville's alerts to be confirmed that the company has in the meantime changed its name.
Back in 2017 this website published a RARE Alert about Horizon Pharma, noting the rumours about the company weighing a sale to a rival after receiving takeover interest. Below is a link to that report:..
Biopharmaceutical dealmaking is back in vogue and hacks at the Wall Street Journal have dug out the latest scoop.
The WSJ revealed just now that rare disease developer Horizon Therapeutics PLC has received "takeover interest" from large pharmaceutical companies.
The newspaper cautioned, though, that any tie-up is uncertain and a deal may not emerge...
Financial flacks (known in the real world as public relations executives) keep on pushing their podcasts and some of them are actually pretty good.
Take, for example, the most recent installment of the "Friday Fix" by Russell "Russ" Lynch of Powerscourt, a City media relations firm.
Russ gets to interview his old boss Chris Williams, who runs the Telegraph Media Group's business department...
Betaville is in another grump.
That's because Bloomberg published a takeover tale about Univar Solutions Inc, the US-listed chemicals company, that I was also chasing down.
And now Germany's Brenntag SE has confirmed it is weighing a takeover offer for US-listed Univar Solutions...
Now the Manchester Evening News come up with its own Manchester United takeover tale.
The billionaire Amancio Ortega is interested in buying Manchester United, according to the Manchester Evening News.
In case you don't know, Ortega controls the Zara fashion empire. Below is the link the piece by the Manchester Evening News:..
It's been a while since the London market has seen a fresh recommended offer so it was good to see one on the tape this morning.
Saria, a family controlled German company that provides services in the food and agricultural sectors, is paying 316.1p a share (or £540 million) in cash for Devro, the London-listed maker of sausage casings...
Speculation about who might be interested in buying Manchester United (and Liverpool Football Club) is arriving thick and fast.
So Betaville will keep attempt running a list of rumoured runner and riders as I know many of this website's readers are not just investors but also football fans (and possible supporters of these two clubs)...
Natura & Co Holding, the Brazil and US-listed personal care and cosmetics company, is said to have drawn interest in its organic luxury care brand Aesop from trade buyers and private equity firms.
People following the situation have heard rumours Natura & Co Holding is working with advisers on a possible auction process of Aesop. Offers from interested parties are expected to be submitted by the end of this month, said these people following the situation...
Home REITS's shares have just collapsed 10pc thanks to a mauling from some of Britain's more ferocious stock market bears.
Viceroy Research, a well known short selling boutique, has come out with a note alleging all sorts about the company that specialises in investing the provision of housing for homeless people throughout the United Kingdom.
I'm not going to repeat the allegations here but click on the link below for the arguments:..
I'm not sure I can remember a time when the owners of two top flight English premier league football clubs have simultaneously hoisted the 'for sale' sign over their respective businesses...
Entain's shares have perked up almost 6pc this morning amid talk US-listed casino operator MGM has rekindled its interest in bidding for the London-listed gaming business.
The talk is emanating from the Off Shore Gaming Association blog, which is suggesting that MGM is fed up with its US partnership deal with Entain and may look to buy the owner of Coral and Ladbrokes as a way out of the BetMGM joint venture. Below is a link to the piece:..
Betaville had just enough time to do a Markets Live session with The Blind Spot's Izabella Kaminska before the England game started.
If you didn't log in for the session this morning I have pasted the transript below:
https://the-blindspot.com/spot-markets-live-transcript-21-11-22/..
Private equity firms Hg Capital, Carlyle and Permira are said to be circling Germany-listed Atoss Software.
Well, that's according to arch rivals at Bloomberg, who report that the founder of Atoss, Andreas Obereder, is working with advisers on "strategic options", including a possible sale.
Atoss Software shares are already up almost 7pc on the story. Below is the link:..
BHP appears to have finally struck a deal to buy Australian copper mining company Oz Minerals. Below is a link to this morning's announcement:
Hacks over at the Financial Times won the bragging rights from rivals at the Wall Street Journal rivals after it emerged Estee Lauder beat rival Kering to the acquisition of luxury fashion brand Tom Ford.
Below is the link to the press release from a few days ago:..
[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].