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.
Tuesday, 19 July 2022, 10:14 am
The French government has unveiled the details of its nationalisation/buy-out of minority shareholders with the state paying EURO 12 a share to take full control of the nuclear power group.
As a result, EDF's shares are up 15pc this morning.
But this shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to loyal and regular readers of little old Betaville's work...
P.S - if you aren't a regular reader then see the earlier posts of this series...
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Monday, 18 July 2022, 7:56 am
Sabah Meddings of The Sunday Times business section had a decent haul this weekend...
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Betaville IntelligenceFriday, 15 July 2022, 3:40 pm
EVO Payments Inc, the US-listed payment processing company, has come under the spotlight amid a renewed round of takeover talk.
People following the situation have heard rumours EVO Payments has attracted interest from a potential acquirer.
However, the identity of the mystery bidder circling EVO Payments is unknown, said people following the situation.
EVO Payments has received a takeover approach in the recent past...
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Thursday, 14 July 2022, 6:45 pm
Quelle surprise: Aston Martin Lagonda, the London-listed maker of the luxury car marque, is ploughing ahead with another equity fundraising after all.
Well, that's according to Peter Campbell of the Financial Times, whohas just landed a cracking tale about Aston Marin tapping shareholders up for about to £500 million with much of that coming from another rights issue. Below is a link to Campbell's scoop:..
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Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 13 July 2022, 10:15 am
Electricite de France SA's shares have been suspended!
Betaville assumes the constant stream of leaks about the nationalisation and buy-out of minority shareholders got a bit tiresome.
Indeed, EDF's shares are up almost 30pc since little old Betaville broke the rumour about the deal a couple of weeks ago...
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Tuesday, 12 July 2022, 7:06 pm
A tweet from Orlando Bravo caught Betaville's eye this afternoon, with the founder of US-based technology buy-out house Thoma Bravo tweeting:
"In this market, I wouldn’t look at a company's “takeover value” as part of one’s investment thesis or to try to predict a bottom on a stock. Neither strategics nor PE have the time & money to pursue even a fraction of the attractive M&A opportunities that exist right now."..
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Betaville IntelligenceTuesday, 12 July 2022, 8:35 am
The Electricite de France nationalisation stories keep rolling in thick and fast.
Now rivals at Reuters are catching up with little old Betaville with an "exclusive" story that contains a little bit more detail on the buy-out of minorities in EDF...
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Monday, 11 July 2022, 7:16 pm
There appear to be some investors who reckon Elon Musk won't be able to back out of his $44 billion Twitter takeover bid.
Roy Boehren, who runs the $5 billion merger arb fund for US-based Westchester Capital, told the Financial Times today that: "Twitter should continue to trade well above the standalone value of the company. The company has the better argument and there is validity to the merger agreement that should be enforced."..
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Betaville IntelligenceFriday, 8 July 2022, 8:19 am
Tucked away in the back of The Times market report is a line on the Tremor takeover tale that has been circulating in recent weeks.
The report, written by the experienced hack Dominic Walsh, notes rumours about CVC Capital Partners having an interesting in purchasing Tremor, the online advertising business. Below is the link: ..
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 7 July 2022, 8:32 pm
Rivals at Bloomberg picked up an interesting snippet this evening on the looming Electricite de France nationalisation (or buy-out of the minority shareholders).
According to Bloomie, Bruno Le Mare, the French finance minister, said a whopping EURO 12.7 billion has been put into a "special Treasury account" for EDF's nationalisation.
Although Le Mare makes it clear the EURO 12.7 billion isn't just fo the EDF deal the quote has got a few City wags excited...
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Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 6 July 2022, 5:48 pm
Reuters is reporting that the French Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, has said France plans to fully nationalise Electricite de France. Below is the link:
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/frances-edf-be-fully-nationalised-borne-2022-07-06/..
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Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 6 July 2022, 8:34 am
It would appear Ken Griffin's Citadel has just bought a rather large slice of Boohoo, the controversial online fast fashion retailer.
According to a regulatory announcement, Citadel - which is controlled by Griffin, one of America's wealthiest hedge fund tycoons - now owns just over 5pc of Boohoo. Below is the link:..
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Wednesday, 6 July 2022, 12:00 am
Back in the aftermath of the 2020 stockmarket crash little old Betaville broke the story of an impending row between property entrepreneur Robert Tchenguiz and a group of well known stockbroking firms, such as FTSE 250-listed IG.
The likes of IG, CMC Markets and Intertrader - which was owned by Ladbrokes owner Entain - had sold out Tchenguiz's 7pc shareholding in FirstGroup during the rout of March 2020 after he allegedly failed to meet margin calls...
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Monday, 4 July 2022, 6:52 pm
It's taken fifteen years but little old Betaville today finally made it onto Markets Live as a host albeit in a slightly different way to its original format.
Let me clarify what Markets Live is for readers unfamiliar with this journalstic outlet. It was the the live knockabout chat about what is moving stock, bond and commodity markets run the Financial Times blog FT Alphaville...
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersFriday, 1 July 2022, 3:50 pm
Betaville IntelligenceFriday, 1 July 2022, 2:26 pm
I see that Capgemini appears to have issued a categorical on the record denial about its interest in buying some or all of Atos, the belegeured IT and cybersecurity business.
How bizarre!
I mean, Betaville approached Capgemini and offered the firm an opportunity to comment on the story and this was response from Victoire Grux, the spokesperson for the consulting firm:
"We are not commenting on market rumours".
What changed between then and now?..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersThursday, 30 June 2022, 3:54 pm
Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersWednesday, 29 June 2022, 3:47 pm
Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersTuesday, 28 June 2022, 4:07 pm
Monday, 27 June 2022, 6:16 pm
The little end piece of Oliver "Shahsy" Shah's column in yesterday's The Sunday Times business section caught Betaville's eye yesterday.
Olly was pushing the idea that Centrica, the FTSE 100-listed owner of British Gas, could be a takeover target for an oil major or European utility. Below is the link to yesterday's piece:..
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[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].