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.
Friday, 24 June 2022, 8:01 am
It was on, then it was off - and now it is, according to the venerable Wall Street Journal, back on again.
That's the $17 billion leveraged buy-out of Zendesk, a US-listed company that builds software to improve customer relationships.
Earlier this month Zendesk said it would stay independent after holding talks with potential buyers because the choppiness in financing markets was making it harder to find the debt for private equity deals...
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 23 June 2022, 8:12 am
This morning France-based media outlet BFM TV reveals that the French state is willing to support a Thales acquisition of Atos's cybersecurity business. Below is a link to that article:
https://www.bfmtv.com/economie/l-etat-favorable-a-un-mariage-entre-thales-et-atos_AN-202206230022.html
Mmm - I wonder what will happen next?..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersWednesday, 22 June 2022, 4:00 pm
Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersWednesday, 22 June 2022, 2:48 pm
Tuesday, 21 June 2022, 6:52 pm
The private equity owner of Bonhams could be about to auction off the 229-year-old auction house...
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Monday, 20 June 2022, 7:31 am
The Mail on Sunday's scoop about a takeover bid for Euromoney, Betaville's former employer, has been confirmed.
This morning Euromoney said it has received an approach pitched at £14.61 from buy-out firms Astorg and Epiris. Below is the link to the confirmation:..
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Sunday, 19 June 2022, 9:24 am
Most this weekend's Sunday newspaper business sections were dominated by stories about interest rates, stock market falls and cryptocurrency wipe outs.
But there was one deal story that caught Betaville's eye: a piece in the Mail on Sunday about how FTSE 250-listed Euromoney has drawn takeover interest from buy-out firms...
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Friday, 17 June 2022, 12:56 pm
BNP Paribas has "expressed an interest" in buying ABN Amro, the Dutch lender.
Well, that's according to arch rivals at Bloomberg. Below is a link to their scoop, which has sent ABN Amro's shares climbing over 17pc during intra-day trading. Below is the link:..
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 16 June 2022, 9:47 pm
So, Atos's new chief executive, Rodolphe Belmer, is quitting the company.
He only started in January and is leaving the company in Atos. This follows reports he fell out with Bertrand Meunier, the Atos chairman, over strategy.
The main point of issue between Belmer and his board was about the future of the company's crown-jewel cybersecurity unit. Belmer is rumoured to have wanted to sell it to the many suitors while Meunier was against such as idea, according to reports...
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Wednesday, 15 June 2022, 9:32 am
If you are trying to get your head around the Australian bid battle for Go-Ahead, the London-listed bus and rail operator, then Alistair Osborne's column in today's The Times is worth a read...
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Tuesday, 14 June 2022, 6:58 pm
Stock markets are plunging and debt is becoming more expensive but that isn't stopping the buy-out giants from having a go.
Indeed, the latest large buy-out attempt by US private equity house involves Bain Capital, which was founded by former Republican US presidential candidate Mitt Romney...
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Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 13 June 2022, 7:02 pm
Atos has picked one of the worst days in the market this year to offload its entire stake in Wordline, the France-listed payments company.
Atos is selling its 2.5pc shareholding in Wordline tonight via an accelerated bookbuild with help from heavyweight advisers at Goldman Sachs and Rothschild & Co. Below is a link to the press release:..
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Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 13 June 2022, 9:59 am
Another day, another story about France-listed Atos from French media outlet BFMTV.
This morning BFMTV appears to be reporting that Atos will announce at tomorrow's stategy update a move to put its coveted cybersecurity business into a seperate legal entity, a sort of (non?) demerger despite several takeover approaches for the division. Below is the link:..
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Monday, 13 June 2022, 9:29 am
Go-Ahead has just released a statement confirming it is in bid talks but not with the party Bloomberg was suggesting.
It would appear the Australians have set their sights on ailing Go-Ahead. That is to say Kelsian Group, which is listed in Australia, and a consortium comprising Kinetic, another Aussie transport business, and a Spanish infrastructure firm called Globalvia Inversiones have submitted indicative offers...
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Monday, 13 June 2022, 9:04 am
Go-Ahead, the London-listed rail operator, is in talks with OP Trust about a sale of the business to the Canadian investor.
According to Bloomberg, OP Trust is in "advanced negotiations about a deal to take Go-Ahead private and is arranging financing for the transaction".
A take private deal by OP Trust - which manages money for the Ontario public sector employees - could be reached in the next few days, the news agency claims...
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Friday, 10 June 2022, 5:21 pm
Some mixed messages coming through from one of Credit Suisse's largest shareholders - veteran American investor David Herro of Harris Associates.
Yesterday, he told hacks at Financial News asked Herro, who is third largest shareholder in Credit Suisse, if he would support a State Street takeover. He told the newspaper backing any bid “all depends on price. For the right buyer [or] price, we would be supportive”. Below is the link to the piece:..
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Thursday, 9 June 2022, 2:50 pm
The boss of Credit Suisse is pouring a large bucket of cold water on Inside Paradeplatz's tale about a sale to State Street, the US-listed custody giant.
And the powerful media organisations are eating up. Indeed, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Thomas Gottstein effectively called the Inside Paradeplatz story "stupid" at a Goldman Sachs conference today. Below is a link to the story with the full quotes:..
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 9 June 2022, 1:11 pm
A curious story has emerged on French news channel BFM today about Atos, the France-listed embattled IT company.
According to BFM, Rodolphe Belmer, the new Atos chief executive, had presented several strategic options for its Big Data & Security (BDS) division to the board.
Under consideration by Belmer were an IPO, a spin-off or a strategic partnership with Thales, but the Atos board would have rejected them all, reports BFM.
So what next?..
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 9 June 2022, 7:42 am
I see Remgro, the South African conglomerate backed by the Rupert family, has finally confirmed little old Betaville's UNCOOKED alert from yesterday.
According to this morning's statement, Remgro has offered 463p a share in cash for Mediclinic but this has been rejected by the company's board. Below is a link to the statement: ..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersWednesday, 8 June 2022, 4:20 pm
[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].