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.
Betaville is in a bit of a grump.
A lot of hard worrk was thrown out of the window this afternoon after infrastructure investor John Laing Group decided to confirm is in talks with KKR about a possible offer for the company. Below is the link:..
Hemogenyx Pharmaceuticals was once the the darling of the small cap market but now the shares are languishing at a five-year low, causing consternation among the company's backers.
Some are blaming today's dire state of the shares on Mint Capital, a little known investment house based in the Bahamas...
There appears to be a growing trend in British national newspapers of burying quality merger and acquisition story lines into the middle of feature reports or editorial think pieces...
Ping!
An email arrives from LSE-owned data provider Refinitiv. Apparently, dealmaking around the world has hit an all-time record. Now, I'm sure I have heard that one before over the last fifteen years. Anyway, below is the press release in case you are interested:
Global M&A breaks all-time April and YTD records
..
Betaville notes that Royal KPN NV has finally confirmed it has received approaches from EQT/Stonepeak and KKR. Below is the link to the KPN statement:
https://www.overons.kpn/en/news/2021/kpn-rejected-two-unrelated-unsolicited-approaches
Of course, for regular readers of this website not much of the above will come as too much of a surprise.....
Today's British Sunday newspapers all led with cracking corporate scoops on their respective front pages - something Betaville hadn't seen for a while.
There was The Sunday Telegraph's tale about William Hill's new owner selling off its British betting shops, possibly to Apollo. Below is the link:..
Some big British business journalism job moves are afoot.
Jim, "Armo", Armitage, the longstanding business editor of the Evening Standard, is heading over to The Sunday Times in the same role.
Oliver, "Shaassy", Shah is to become an associate editor of The Sunday Times. ..
Sierra Wireless, the Canada-listed 'internet of things' designer, is rumoured to be back in talks with Aim-listed Telit Communications about a combination of the two businesses.
People following the situation have heard talk Sierra Wireless has made a fresh approach to Telit's board following Dbay Advisors's attempt to buy the London-listed business for 206p a share...
Betaville notes Equiniti and Siris Capital have begun talking about a deal that could see the London-listed share registrar taken private for 180p a share. Below is a link to this morning's announcement:
Sanjeev Gupta's advisers at PricewaterhouseCoopers have got in touch with potential acquirers of Liberty Steel's engineering division to formally begin the sale process of the unit.
Now, Betaville realises that perhaps this might be a bit of wrinkle on the running Gupta-Liberty Steel-Greensill-David Cameron story as it had already been flagged up that PWC was carrying out a 'strategic review' of Liberty Steel's engineering division...
Followers of little old Betaville's work might have noticed last weekend's front page business story in the Mail on Sunday's business section about The Analyst's bearish view on Deliveroo. Below is the link in case you missed it:
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-9482635/The-Analyst-warns-Deliveroo-dive-40.html..
Richard Buxton, one of the City of London's most respected fund managers at Jupiter, spent a bit of time yesterday whining to Mark, "the Kleinmanator", Kleinman of Sky News about the recent trend in London-listed companies' failing to disclose takeover approaches. Below is a link to Mark's scoop:..
Catalist Partners, the activist property investor, is rumoured to be looking at Foxtons, the UK-listed estate agent.
People following the situation have heard rumours Catalist was the firm examining Foxtons back when the original takeover rumours were first on Betaville Intelligence in February...
So, Betaville's analysis in Part 2 was correct. US-listed Innospec says it is no longer considering a bid for Elementis after having a 160p a share offer rejected. Below is a link:
Another day, another Kleinmanator follow up for little old Betaville.
This time Mark Kleinman of Sky News, a former colleague from our time on The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph, has dug out a fresh take on last week's Elementis bid rumour. In case you don't recall Betaville published an UNCOOKED Alert on the topic last week and followed that up last weekend's Mail on Sunday business section. Below are the links:..
I see Siris Capital has finally decided to reveal its interest in Equiniti, the London-listed share registrar and financial administration business. Below is the link to the announcement:
JBS, the Brazilian-listed meat producer, is said to be circling Kerry Foods's EURO 1 billion meat and ready meals division.
People following the situation said JBS - which owns Moy Park, an Irish poultry meat producer - is studying the purchase of the unit, whose products include Richmond branded sausages...
[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].