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.
Thoma Bravo just can't stop doing deals - even in a bear market.
According to arch rivals at Bloomberg, the firm has teamed up with Sunstone Partners to buy Usertesting, a US-listed software company, for $7.50 a share or £1.3 billion.
That's some premium from where the shares closed ($3.86) last night!
UPDATE: Below is the link to the deal confirmation:..
Is it safe to assume that the $44 Twitter takeover deal will complete this Friday now that Elon Musk has changed his profile on the micro blogging site to "Chief Twit"?
Well, there was also a picture of Elon Musk carrying a sink (whatever that is supposed to imply) into the Twitter headquarters circulating the internet and Twittersphere.
Still, there is always a risk of another Musk curve ball .....
Bloomberg is now reporting Elon Musk's $44 billion acquisition of Twitter is set to complete after the maverick billionaire entrepreneur told bankers he plans to close the transaction this Friday. Below is a link to the Bloomie piece:..
Dealreporter, another Betaville rival, published a story about Swiss banking software company Temenos on Friday, suggesting the company had hired Citigroup and Goldman Sachs to sound out private equity buyers.
Mmmmm ... that tale sounds eerily similar to the one little old Betaville published a couple of months ago. Below is the link to that UNCOOKED Alert:..
Frasers Group, the London-listed retail group backed by wily tracksuit-to-trainers entrepreneur Mike Ashley, has secretly been stakebuilding in Asos, the Aim-listed online retailer.
Well, that's according to Christopher Williams of The Sunday Telegraph. ..
Has the maverick Musk finally found a way out of following through with his $44 billion Twitter Inc takeover?
Well, Twitter shares fell almost 16pc overnight after Bloomberg revealed that the officials in the Biden administration are discussing whether Elon Musk's businesses should be subject to national security reviews, including even a possible CFIUS review of his Twitter takeover. Below is the link:..
Another interesting tweet from Orlando Bravo, the American private equity tycoon behind the firm Thoma Bravo.
"Bankers who only know how to sell companies through auctions and “competitive tension” will get nowhere in this market. While bankers who know how to work with the right buyer to get to the right price will end up delivering a lot of value to their clients." ..
I see arch rivals at Bloomberg have landed a rather good tale about activist fund Elliott taking a stake in German healthcare giant Fresenius with a view to pushing for a break up. Below is a link to the Bloomberg scoop:
The bear market rolls on but the takeover deals keep on coming.
Yesterday, for example, FTSE 100 oil giant BP announced it is buying US-listed biogas company Archaea Energy for $4.1 billion as it looks to diversify more into the green energy space.
Now, I realise many readers will have noticed this deal during yesterday's session but just in case it passed you by I have pasted the link below:..
Panmure Gordon, the City stockbroker backed by former Barclays boss Bob Diamond, has approached rival FinnCap about merger, according to Mark, the "Kleinmanator", Kleinman of Sky News.
It's cracking scoop from Kleiny which is also likely to send shockwaves among the rest of the London-based mid and small cap brokers, such as Peel Hunt, Numis and WH Ireland, who are all likely looking over their shoulders, too. ..
There weren't too many deal scoops of note in the British newspapers this weekend as clearly the focus was on the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kasi Kwarteng, the new Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, and Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England...
Kroger's $25 billion purchased of smaller US rival Albertsons doesn't appear to have gone down too well with the latter's investors.
Shares in Albertsons are down amost 8pc despite the confirmation that Kroger is paying $34.10 a share for grocer. Below is the link to the press release in case you haven't seen it:..
Two of America's largest grocers are in talks about a multi-billion dollar merger.
Well, that's according to rivals at Bloomberg, who have just broken a huge story about Kroger holding merger talks with Albertsons.
The move could create $45 billion grocery giant across the USA.
Shares in Alberstons have just been halted. Developing.....
Another day, another US technology company take private.
This time it's Thoma Bravo's arch rival - Vista Equity Partners, led by the controversial billionaire financier Robert Smith - that is buying one of America's listed technology groups.
Vista is buying KnowBe4, Inc, the provider of the world’s largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform for $24.90 in cash or $4.6 billion. Below is the link the to the press release:..
Betaville realises it's pretty gloomy and uncertain out there in the markets, which typically doesn't provide a great environment for dealmaking.
Still, there are deals happening. Take, for example, ForgeRock, Inc - the US-listed software and digital identity company...
Hacks at the Wall Street Journal have landed a cracking new line on the Qiagen takeover story that has been rumbling around European markets for the last two years.
According to the WSJ, US-listed medical diagnostics group Bio-Rad Laboratories Inc is in merger talks with Qiagen, which had previously been in negotiations France's BioMerieux about a combination.
Below is the link to the WSJ story:..
Arch rivals at Bloomberg and Streetinsider have finally decided to follow up little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alert on Denbury, the US-listed independent oil extractor.
This afternoon StreetInsider claimed Denbury was working with JP Morgan on the sale of the business to a "strategic buyer". Below is the link:..
[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].