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.
Another day, another confirmation for little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alerts.
This time Baring Private Equity Asia has confirmed it is considering a takeover offer for RWS Holdings, the London-listed content management and intellectual property services provider. Below is the link to the confirmation and the original UNCOOKED alert by yours truly:..
Several weeks ago Betaville and some rivals reported that THG, the controversial London-listed company formerly known as The Hut Group, has received takeover interest from several private equity firms, including Advent International and Leonard Green.
That was met by silence on all sides, giving the usual Betaville sceptics an opportunity to sling mud...
Just Eat Takeaway has this morning announced it is looking at a full or partial sale of Grubhub.
In case you don't recall Just Eat Takeaway bought the US-based online food delivery two years ago for £5.75 billion, which is almost the same amount as the London-listed company's market capitalisation. Below is the link to this morning's annoucement about the sale alongside a trading update:..
Gordon Haskett was yesterday piggybacking of little old Betaville's hard work.
Don Bilson at the "research advisor" set off a round of speculation about Goldman Sachs taking an interest in Affirm Holdings Inc, the US-listed lender, after publishing a note pointing out that David Vinlar is stepping down from the Block board "due to increasing potential for competitive overlap with other boards"...
Apparently, George Osborne has landed a role for uber dealmakers Robey Warshaw on the £3 billion Chelsea Football Club deal...
I see Cinven has finally confirmed it is weighing a takeover bid for Ideagen, the London-listed software compliance business. Below is the link:
https://www.investegate.co.uk/cinven/rns/possible-offer-for-ideagen-plc/202204141726004802I/..
So, it was good call by my old boss at The Daily Telegraph - Richard Fletcher, now business editor of The Times - to splash on the Elon Musk Twitter bid rumours the other day.
Musk's announcement about his $41 billion ($54.20 a share) offer for Twitter has sent the Twittersphere into total meltdown about what might happen next...
Ideagen, the London-listed compliance software company, remains at the centre of takeover speculation amid talk at least one private equity firm is interested in buying the business.
People following the situation have heard talk Cinven has been studying the possiblity of buying Ideagen, possibly as part of a consortium with another private equity firm...
I see Sir Simon Robey is attempting to deal with the fact that the former Chancellor of the Exchequer he hired almost a year ago has so far failed to land a role on an announced takeover deal.
In a rare interview with Aaron Kirchfeld, Bloomberg's global deals editor, Sir Simon - one of the City of London's top dealmakers - says: "There is no point in having someone like George in the building unless you support them in winning new business."..
There has been plenty of coverage over the last few days about Elon Musk's stakebuilding in Twitter and what it could mean for the micro-blogging website.
Several newspapers, including the Daily Mail, even went so far to report rumours that he may interested in launching a hostile takeover. Below are the links to their articles:..
Ideagen, the London-listed compliance software company, has come under the spotlight amid takeover talk.
People following the situation have heard rumours Ideagen may have attracted a suitor interested in purchasing the business.
However, people following the situation said the identity the company interested in acquiring Ideagen is unclear...
Bloomberg is tipping Carrefour, the France-listed supermarket giant, as one of the most likely takeover targets of 2022.
Late last week the news agency claimed: "Carrefour SA beat out telecom and media companies to top the list of mergers and acquisitions targets in Europe, as dealmaking starts to recover from its worst quarter since summer 2020"...
The old Mark "The Kleinmanator" Kleinman of Sky News is being rather hyperactive at the moment.
Yesterday, Kleiny landed the scoop about Vodafone trying to buy part of Talk Talk and this morning he has just published a tale about London-listed Ascential weighing a break up that could see events and exhibitions company list some of its operations in the US...
So, it looks like rivals at Bloomberg have nailed the Atlantia scoop about the Italian airport to toll roads owner and operator.
According to the news agency there are several parties circling the business including American private equity giant Blackstone, Canadian firm Brookfield and Global Insfrastructure Partners, the specialist infrastructure fund that invested in Gatwick Airport...
There is a good reason Graham "Ruddy" Ruddick, outgoing deputy business editor of The Times, named his new Substack newsletter Off to Lunch.
It's because lunch is where hacks often get their best tips and stories.
But sometimes you can pick up a decent snippet on the way to lunch (today's venue was Al Duca, a quality Italian eaterie just off Piccadilly)...
[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].