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.
RARE ALERT: SSE said to ... - Part 6
Splashed across the pages of most of today's British newspapers business sections is the latest twist on the battle between FTSE 100-listed energy giant SSE and Elliott, the activist investor led by Paul Singer.
This time Elliott has officially broken cover by going "on the record" about its position and what it wants (for the moment). Below are the links to all the relevant articles:..
UNCOOKED ALERT: Ageas said to ... - Part 6
I see arch rivals at Bloomberg have finally decided to follow up on little old Betaville's alert from a couple of week's ago about the recent Ageas takeover rumours.
The financial media giant is claiming BE Group, which is led by ex Lazard financier Mark Pensaert, has rekindled its interest in buying Ageas. I would post the link but Bloomie hasn't made the story publicly available...
Confirmations, confirmations and more confirmations - Part 2
Ahoy there Betavillers!
As you may have noticed its been a rather busy week - or year, rather - so I haven't had time to write to you with the usual self congratulatory missive about my recent scoops. But I have a bit of time now, so I will list below the confirmations over the last week.
First up, there was Betaville's UNCOOKED ALERT about dealer Marshall Motor Holdings, which was subsequently confirmed over the following days. Below are the links:..
Vodafone said to have held merger talks with Orange to create £50 billion telecoms giant, reports BFM
French publication BFM is today reporting that FTSE 100-listed telecoms giant Vodafone has held merger talks with France's Orange.
Betaville's French is a bit rusty but according to BFM Vodafone held talks with Orange about a combination from the summer of 2020 to the beginning of 2021. Below is the link:..
Danish shipping tycoons poised to buy Switzerland's Unilabs for $5 billion - sources
AP Moller Holdings is on the verge of buying Unilabs, the giant Switzerland-based healthcare and diagnostics company.
People following the situation said AP Moller Holdings, a vehicle that controls the Danish shipping company Maersk, is in exclusive talks to purchase Unilabs from private equity firm Apax...
RARE ALERT: Taylor Wimpey said to ... - Part 2
An American activist investor is rumored to be targeting Taylor Wimpey, the FTSE 100-listed housebuilder, with a view to encouraging corporate activity, such as a takeover.
People following the situation have heard talk Elliott Advisors has been secretly building a sizeable stake in Taylor Wimpey, one of Britain's largest housebuilders...
UNCOOKED ALERT: Clinigen said to ... - Part 5..
UNCOOKED ALERT: Orange SA said to ... - Part 3
Atos, the ailing French IT company, has finally been deleted from the MSCI Indices, which has forced passive tracker funds to offload around 8 million shares in the business.
Now, in case you don't recall around about this time of the year in 2017 Gemalto, another ailing French cybersecurity company, was deleted from the MSCI Standard Series Index...
UNCOOKED ALERT: Taylor Wimpey said to .....
Vitasoy heiress builds multi-million pound stake in Playtech...
Karen Lo has been buying a multi-million pound stake in Playtech, the online gaming software group currently at the centre of a complex three-way takeover tussle.
She is just the latest in a string of colourful characters, many of them eminating from the Far East, who have been buying shares in Playtech well above the recommended 680p a share offer from Aristocrat, an Australian gaming group...
Reliance Industries said to eye £15 billion plus bid for BT Group, reports India's Economic Times
There is a big buzz around BT Group this morming amid reports from India claiming that Reliance Industries is weighing a multi-billion pound bid for the ailing telecommunications company.
According to The Economic Times, Reliance - which is controlled by Mukesh Ambani, supposedly Asia's "richest man" - is considering making an offer for the whole of BT Group, which recently saw French billionaire Patrick Drahi come onto the register with a large shareholding...
UNCOOKED ALERT: Marshall Motor Holdings PLC said to ...
Marshall Motor Holdings PLC, the UK-listed car dealership group, is at the centre of takeover speculation.
People following the situation have heard rumours a mystery predator is eyeing Marshall Motor Holdings and may have already approached the company about a takeover deal.
However, the identity of the party interested in buying Marshall Motor Holdings - Britain's seventh largest car dealer - is in unclear, said these people following the situation...
UNCOOKED ALERT: Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy S...
Mr Acerbic tips Johnson Matthey as a takeover target for private equity
Betaville's favourite business commentator today suggests that ailing catalytic converter maker Johnson Matthey might be of interest to the buy-out barons if its new boss can't sort the company out soon enough...
RARE ALERT: Intertrust N.V. said to ... - Part 3
I see Bloomberg have finally decided to jump on the Intertrust takeover story bandwagon with their own take on the situation.
According to Bloomie, Apex - which recently outbid Cinven to buy UK-listed Sanne Group for over £1.5 billion - and CSC Global have made rival offers for Intertrust N.V. Below is the link to the Bloomberg scoop:..
An observation on European M&A...
Loyal readers will know that Betaville's has recently dug out a string of corking UNCOOKED and RARE alerts about European takeover situations, such as ICA Gruppen, CNP Assurance and Telecom Italia.
There is something that struck me about this recent spate of deals on the European continent: many of them involve their largest strategic shareholder taking the company private.
And Betaville suspects there could be a few more of this ilk.....
RARE ALERT: Intertrust N.V. said to ... - Part 2
Apologies for the tardy post Betavillers but I have been running around all day trying to find you some more jackanories.
Anyway, I see Intertrust N.V., the Belgian fund administration company, has confirmed it has received some more offers. Below is the link to the statement in case you missed it:..
RARE ALERT: Intertrust N.V. said to ...
Speculation is mounting Intertrust N.V., the trust and fund administration company, has received a higher offer.
People following the situation have heard rumours Intertrust may have received an offer of as much as EURO 20 a share.
The talk comes after Intertrust agreed to enter into exclusive talks with CVC Capital Partners about a deal that would see the private equity firm buy the business for EURO 18 a share...
UNCOOKED ALERT: Ageas said to ... - Part 6..
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