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.
Thursday, 4 June 2020, 5:48 am
Avacta Group, the Aim-listed developer of a saliva test for Coronavirus, is said to be looking to tap investors for up to £30 million.
People following the situation said that Avacta is working with brokers from finnCap an equity capital raising via an accelerated bookbuild.
It's thought Avacta is considering issuing new shares at between 110p and 120p a share with a view to raising as much as £30 million...
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Wednesday, 3 June 2020, 8:12 am
Tiffany's shares slumped almost 10pc overnight amid a talk LVMH is getting cold feet again about the $16 billion takeover.
This time, though, it's not Gasparino but Women's Wear Daily stoking concerns with a report claiming LVMH's board members are to hold/held a meeting to discuss whether the company should back out of the deal. Below is a link to the WWD scoop:..
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Monday, 1 June 2020, 8:44 am
So, Betaville suspects this note (see below) from HC Wainwright & Co is what all the fuss was about on Friday. The company has also this morning sacked Shore Capital and replaced the firm with Optiva as its broker...
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Sunday, 31 May 2020, 7:42 pm
Betaville was slightly perplexed by the fact that only the Mail on Sunday reported the news today about Capital & Counties acquisition of a 26.3pc shareholding in Shaftesbury from Samuel Tak Lee...
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Saturday, 30 May 2020, 8:35 am
One of Betaville's favourite City writers offered an interesting view on Brookfield's surprise 7pc stakebuild in FTSE 100-listed British Land: "Acerbic" Alistair Osborne, a former Telegraph colleague and chief business commentator at The Times.
So, I have pasted a link to Alistair's piece below should you have a few spare minutes to catch up on the news this weekend:..
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Friday, 29 May 2020, 8:30 am
Brookfield, the Canadian property and buy-out group, has snapped up a 7.31pc shareholding in British Land, the FTSE 100-listed property giant.
The stakebuilding was announced this morning. Below is the link:
https://www.investegate.co.uk/british-land-co-plc--blnd-/rns/holding-s--in-company/202005290700032880O/..
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Friday, 29 May 2020, 7:19 am
Betaville expects Tiziana Life Sciences will see a fresh round of interesting developments over the next couple of days.
Indeed, one thing to look out for will be another presentation of StemPrintER, Tiziana's breast cancer test, at the ASCO conference this afternoon. Below is a link to this morning's announcement:..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersThursday, 28 May 2020, 4:33 pm
Thursday, 28 May 2020, 2:47 pm
David Hatcher over at React News is on fire, revealing just now that Capital & Counties is in talks to buy Sammy Tak Lee's stake in Shaftesbury in a move that would pave the way for a £3.1 billion combination of the two retail property giants.
Below is the link to David's scoop:
https://reactnews.com/article/capco-in-talks-to-buy-sammy-lees-shaftesbury-stake/..
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Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 27 May 2020, 9:34 pm
An investment group founded by Norwegian billionaire hedge fund manager Nicolai Tangen is said to be looking to sell around £300 million of stock in FTSE 100-listed Rolls-Royce through a secondary share sale.
Earlier today rumours whipped round the London market that Rolls-Royce, the aircraft engineering group, was likely to see a major placing - although it wasn't clear whether it was a primary or secondary sale of shares...
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Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 27 May 2020, 8:41 pm
Rolls-Royce, the FTSE 100-listed aircraft engine maker, is likely to see a placing of a large chunk of shares.
However, it's not clear whether the placing is a primary or a secondary placing of stock.
People following the situation said Rolls-Royce is working with Morgan Stanley on the deal, which is being carried out by an accelerated book build.
The transaction is likely to be announced imminently, said people following the situation...
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Tuesday, 26 May 2020, 9:29 pm
So, the Tchenguiz / FirstGroup saga rumbles on although probably not in a way the flamboyant property entrepreneur orginally envisaged.
Below is a link to a piece I wrote for the Mail on Sunday this weekend about how several top brokers - such as IG, GVC's Intertrader and CMC Markets, are chasing down Robbie T for the millions they think he owes them after he was carted out of the stock during the March sell off...
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Monday, 25 May 2020, 11:50 am
Betaville is removing Marston's from the "cash calls - who is next?" list following last Friday's brewing joint venture deal Carlsberg, which gets the London-listed pub company out of a hole as it will receive £273 million of cash from the transaction...
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Friday, 22 May 2020, 9:41 am
Hat tip to David Hatcher over at property website React News.
The intrepid hack has just landed a rather good scoop about how Samuel Tak Lee, the Hong Kong-based tycoon who has been stalking Shaftesbury for several years, is looking to offload his 26.5pc shareholding in the property business.
Below is a link to Hacther's scoop:..
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Friday, 22 May 2020, 8:07 am
So, Tiziana Life Sciences has this morning unveiled the "major corporate activity" Betaville was expecting over the next couple of weeks.
It's a bit earlier than I expected but the top line details are a demerger of StemPrintER. Below is a link to this morning's statement:..
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Friday, 22 May 2020, 6:18 am
The buzz around Tiziana Life Sciences grows louder.
This is because there is talk circulating the market the company could be involved some major corporate activity over the next couple of weeks.
However, don't expect an imminent takeover bid for the whole business from Exact Sciences Corporation. That seems unlikely for a while, said people following the situation...
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Thursday, 21 May 2020, 4:56 pm
Betaville understands Russell Chambers, the rainmaker once dubbed "Tony Blair's favourite banker", is set to finally leave Credit Suisse.
Chambers - who hit the headlines in 2004 inviting Blair onto his yacht off Barbados in 2004 and lending the former British PM his swimming truncks - is preparing to leave the Swiss bank in June, said people with knowledge of the situation...
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Wednesday, 20 May 2020, 7:42 am
Hitting the RNS this morning is some fresh news about how a company backed by Mahmud Kamani has signed a deal to distribute some Covid-19 tests being developed by Avacta...
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Tuesday, 19 May 2020, 6:43 am
So, Compass has effectively confirmed it IS carrying out a cash call. Below is the link to this morning's statement:
https://www.investegate.co.uk/compass-group-plc--cpg-/rns/launch-announcement/202005190700053184N/..
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Tuesday, 19 May 2020, 6:29 am
The financial commentariat really did get their knickers in a twist about last week's FT scoop about BT Group holding talks with infrastructure investors about a sale of a stake in Openreach.
But I have done a bit preliminary poking around and it would seem there is one very important question: why was the "denial" issued by Clive Selley, the boss of Openreach, through a memo to employees rather the company's chief executive via an RNS?..
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[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].