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.
Monday, 9 December 2019, 5:03 pm
Paul Singer's Elliott Management/Advisors started shaking the tree at Alexion last week, demaning a "proactive" sale of the $25 bilion US biopharmaceutical company.
Betaville wasn't too surprised to see the activist hedge fund make Alexion it's latest target as this website's RARE sources were suggesting in summer that both US-listed Amgen and Switzerland's Roche were (or perhaps still are?) targeting Alexion with a view to making formal offers for the company...
Read more...
Betaville IntelligenceFriday, 6 December 2019, 10:38 am
Betaville was chuckling to himself last night when he saw Bloomberg hacks claiming an "exclusive" story on Twitter last night revealing Phoenix Group Holdings merger with ReAssure.
Well, presumably these journalists missed yesterday's UNCOOKED Alert published at midday yesterday with a rather similar tale. Below is the link:..
Read more...
Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 5 December 2019, 12:06 pm
Phoenix Group Holdings, the London-listed life insurer, has come into focus amid talk it could soon be involved in an M&A transaction.
However, people following the situation said it isn't clear what type of deal Phoenix is working on.
One person following the situation had heard rumours a mystery buyer is eyeing a takeover of Phoenix, which specialises in buying up old books of life insurance business that other companies no longer want...
Read more...
Thursday, 5 December 2019, 11:55 am
Hat tip to Jim Holder of Autocar for landing a cracking tale about Lawrence Stroll's attempt to buy a stake in Aston Martin. Below is a link to the Autocar scoop about Lawrence Stroll, who is the billionaire father of Formula One racing driver Lance Stroll:..
Read more...
Thursday, 5 December 2019, 10:51 am
Johnson Matthey, the London-listed speciality chemicals company, has rekindled the sale of oilfield diagnostics company Tracerco.
People familiar with the situation said Johnson Matthey is working with boutique advisory firm EC M&A on a strategic review of Tracerco, which is likely to fetch between £65 million and £80 million...
Read more...
Betaville IntelligenceTuesday, 3 December 2019, 7:53 am
That's the end of that, then.
The hedgies attempt to squeeze some extra cash out of Apax, Warburg Pincus and the Canadian pension funds for Inmarsat ends as a damp squib after they effectively folded in this game of poker by withdrawaing their joint legal action at today's hearing at the Court to sanction the Scheme of Arrangment. Below is the link:..
Read more...
Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 2 December 2019, 9:05 pm
To the Court for tomorrow's hearing to sanction Warburg Pincus and Apax's Scheme of Arrangement to take Inmarsat private.
The judge may be confronted by a bunch of angry hedgies who have been arguing the private equity firms should pay more or attach a contigent value right aspect to their deal because of developments in the US sattelite industry may mean Inmarsat is worth significantly more...
Read more...
Friday, 29 November 2019, 2:20 pm
The market was a tad surprised by this morning's announcement about Northgate's all-share merger of Redde, which provides replacement vehicle, repair and recovery services to insurance company customers.
Not least because just a couple of days ago around 45 million Redde shares changed hands, which effectively saw Neil Woodford's defunct outfit (now controlled by Blackrock) and his old colleague Mark Barnett of Invesco Perputual cleared out (or partially cleared out) of the stock...
Read more...
Betaville IntelligenceFriday, 29 November 2019, 1:20 pm
Ingenico, the French payment terminals company, is said to have now rejected a recent takeover approach from Worldline.
People following the situation said Worldline, another French payments company, is rumoured to have submitted a takeover proposal to Ingenico valuing the business at EURO 120 a share but this has been rebuffed by the latter.
Some people had heard Worldline is preparing to raise its offer to EURO 130 a share...
Read more...
Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 28 November 2019, 5:07 pm
Betaville has a rather fragile ego thanks to years of working at the coalface of British financial journalism.
So, I was pleased to see US insurance giant Arthur J Gallagher & Co announce it is planning to buy the remainder of London-based reinsurance broker Capsicum Re, set up by Graham "Chily" Chiltern, founder of Benfield (which was eventually sold to Aon)...
Read more...
Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 27 November 2019, 5:30 pm
The Inmarsat takeover saga continues, with the company delaying the Court hearing to sanction the Scheme of Arrangement until next week. Below is the link:
https://www.investegate.co.uk/inmarsat-plc--isat-/rns/update-on-court-hearing-and-timetable/201911271311308777U/..
Read more...
Betaville IntelligenceTuesday, 26 November 2019, 4:17 pm
You don't see this very often: hedge funds coming out publicly against their rivals in support of the board during a row about whether the target company should be a soliciting a higher offer or contigent value rights from its private equity acquirers...
Read more...
Monday, 25 November 2019, 10:33 pm
Word reaches Betaville that China's beleguered HNA Group is trying once again to offload Swissport, the airport cargo handling group.
According to sources familiar with the situation, bankers from NM Rothschild and boutique firm Benedetto Gartland & Company have been quietly appointed to find a buyer for Swissport...
Read more...
Friday, 22 November 2019, 4:59 pm
Here is a story thay may resonate with some Betaville's core readers: Pageant Media, which owns HedgeFund Intelligence, is working with advisers on "strategic options".
Sources close to the situation said Pageant Media, which is controlled by entrepreneur Charles Kerr, is working with advisers from corporate finance firm Livingstone (now part of NM Rothschild), a move that could lead to an eventual sale of the business...
Read more...
Thursday, 21 November 2019, 11:28 am
Apologies loyal readers. It seems Betaville might have got slightly the wrong end of the stick when noting the Australian Financial Review's piece about the Glencore / Rio Tinto merger talk.
It would appear the AFR's Street Talk column is in fact suggesting Rio Tinto is looking at taking a run at Glencore and combination is more likely to lead to an £80 billion market capitalisation company. Below is the link to the AFR's piece:..
Read more...
Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 20 November 2019, 4:21 pm
Inmarsat's board is facing another shareholder backlash after it emerged that investors controlling 17pc of the company have written to the FTSE 250-listed business, arguing it should delay the sale of the business or even appoint an independent financial adviser to review the £2.6 billion takeover offer from Apax and Warburg Pincus amid questions about a "conflict of interest"...
Read more...
Tuesday, 19 November 2019, 9:58 pm
Tongues are wagging down under about the prospect of Ivan Glasenberg taking another run at Rio Tinto.
The Australian Financial Review has led the well-respected Street Talk column with the merger rumour after Glencore boss Ivan Glasenberg and Steve Kamlin, the company's CFO, recently travelled to Australia. Below is a the link to the recent AFR piece:..
Read more...
Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersTuesday, 19 November 2019, 3:30 pm
Betaville IntelligenceTuesday, 19 November 2019, 7:43 am
The timing of Hurricane Energy's latest RNS announcement - https://www.investegate.co.uk/hurricane-energy-plc--hur-/rns/-warwick-west--204-30b-4-well-update/201911190700068153T/ - regarding its Warwick West well is intriguing.
Why?..
Read more...
Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 18 November 2019, 9:28 am
Oh look - I see Capital & Counties late last week confirmed Betaville's part 13 and part 14 RARE Alerts about the imminent sale of Earls Court to Jamie Ritblat's Delancey. Below is a link to the announcement:..
Read more...
[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].