A cheeky website about deals, dealmakers and anything else I find interesting. Edited by Ben Harrington. If you have a tip or want to discuss a story please feel free to email Betaville at ben@betaville.co.uk. 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.
It's seems Betaville was being a bit harsh in my last post on the charming old buffer when I wrote his fund was on course to finish as one of the worst performing European hedge funds of 2019. Below is the link to that article:
https://www.betaville.co.uk/news/is-the-tide-turning-for-odey-the-brexiteer-the-ser/..
They have been feted as Britain's top rainmakers. Yes, that's Sir Simon Robey and Simon Warshaw. Ever since they left their respective megabanks (Morgan Stanley and UBS) in 2013 and set up Robey Warshaw much smoke has been blown up their respective bottoms about how brilliant they are at advising some of Britain's biggest companies on mergers & acquisitions...
Having worked as a financial hack for the last fifteen years I guess it wasn't too hard to predict there will be plenty of "prediction" pieces at this time of the year.
How else you do fill a newspaper, website or Bloomborg terminal during a news vacuum at the end/beginning of the year?
Perhaps the most bizarre prediction piece came from Matthew Lynn, a business columnist for The Daily Telegraph, my former employer...
Competitors like to write off little old Betaville but this website was punching above its weight in 2019, landing a series of exclusive genuine "scoops" throughout the year...
There may be some interest in Swissport after all.
Readers might recall that Betaville reported late last month China's embattled HNA Group is once again trying to offload Swissport, the airport cargo handling group, via bankers from NM Rothschild and boutique firm Benedetto Gartland & Company.
The heavily indebted Chinese conglomerate has tried to sell Swissport before but so far there have not really been any takers...
As you can imagine it's rather quiet in the London market today for the obvious reason - 95pc of the City of London are on holiday.
But little old Betaville never stops working. So, I was intrigued by today's TR1 filing in Burford Capital, the litigation funder that has been severely mauled by notorious short seller Muddy Waters...
So farewell Genteel Hustler.
One of Britain's best young financial hacks, William Turvill, is leaving these shores for sunnier climes in Vancouver, Canada.
During his time on the Mail on Sunday's business section Turvill landed multiple scoops around the collapse and potential takeover British steel and was a deft interviewer of heavyweight businessmen, managing to elicit unique, insightful and, occasionally, highly amusing quotes...
The vicious spat between notorious short seller Muddy Waters and FTSE 100-listed healthcare group NMC Health continues unabated.
This morning Carson Block's outfit pinged financial hacks with a fresh note. It starts off by saying:
"Muddy Waters Capital LLC believes that NMC Health’s response to our December 17, 2019 report was misleading, and outright false in certain portions. MW expects to comment more comprehensively on NMC going forward..."..
It was good to see former Telegraph colleague Alistair "Acerbic" Osborne, now of the The Times, sticking up for rival hacks at the Financial Times in his column in today's business section. Below is a link to Alistair's column, one of the best business reads in the UK press:..
Tucked away in the Evening Standard's City section is a suggestion that Carson Block's next target in 2020 might be FTSE 100-listed Rolls Royce.
Now, to be clear I have no clue who Muddy Waters plans to target next but the short seller does appear to be having a bit of field day with UK-listed stocks, such as NMC Health and Burford Capital...
One of Betaville's favourite City commentators has produced another fine column today.
Simon English of the Evening Standard's City pages is his usual amusing and insightful self with today's piece entitled: "if it aint fixed don't broke it".
If you have a spare moment Betaville recommends giving it a read...
Oh look - 3i has just confirmed Betaville's scoopette from last week about the private equity firm's plot to sell Aspen Pumps.
In the end rival buy-out firm Inflexion - led by dealmaker Simon Turner - snapped up the specialist pump manufacturer that designs, manufactures and distributes specialised mini pumps that remove condensate water from air conditioning and refrigeration systems...
Are you are wondering why FTSE 100-listed NMC Health's shares are down 20pc this morning? Well, it's because notorious short seller Muddy Waters has just released its first note on the gulf-based healthcare company.
Now, I'm not going to repeat the allegations from Muddy Waters - which hit the headlines earlier this year with its allegations about Burford Capital - here but obviously Carson Block's outfit hasn't been particularly complimentary...
Perhaps it isn't all bad news for Crispin Odey: his chum, British prime minister Boris Johnson, won a huge majority for the Tories on Friday.
That comes after Odey called on British business leaders to back Boris in an interview with yours truly for the Mail on Sunday's business section over the summer. Below is a link:..
So, it would appear Autocar was heading in the right direction with its scoop about Lawrence Stroll eyeing a strategic stake in London-listed Aston Martin.
Below are links to a statement from the company and the Financial Times scoop that triggered the announcement...
Quilter, the FTSE 250-listed wealth manager, has come into focus amid talk it will likely soon see some major corporate activity.
Some people following the situation have heard rumours a mystery buyer is circling Quilter although the identity of the acquirer is not known.
Quilter was formerly known as Old Mutual Wealth Management before it was spun out of Old Mutual, the Anglo-South African financial services group, in 2018...
Worldline's pursuit of Ingenico, the French payment terminals group, is likely to roll into the New Year but an agreed deal appears unlikely in the short term.
People following the situation said a Worldline merger with Ingenico is more likely to take place in 2020 after the latter rebuffed a EURO 120 approach from the former in the last quarter...
Poor Crispin Odey - his flagship Odey European Fund is back at the top of HSBC's loserboard.
According the bank's hedge weekly review, charming Crispin is down 22pc as of the middle of November, leaving him at risk of finishing the year as the worst performing European hedgie for the second time in four years...
Oh look - I see private jet operator Gama Aviation has this morning said it has reached an "agreement to settle the current legal proceedings". Below is a link to today's announcement:
https://www.investegate.co.uk/gama-aviation-plc--gmaa-/rns/litigation-update/201912110700084814W/..
3i is considering a sale of Aspen Pumps, a UK-based company that designs, manufactures and distributes specialised mini pumps that remove condensate water from air conditioning and refrigeration systems.
Sources close to the situation said 3i, the FTSE 100-listed private equity investor, has appointed bankers from Baird to find a buyer for Aspen Pumps and the company may be worth between £250 million and £300 million as it generates earnings of around £25 million...
[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].