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.
The mystery bidder circling BT Group's £20 billion Openreach division is rumoured to be working with investment banking advisers from JP Morgan on a potential approach.
Last week Betaville Intelligence revealed the FTSE 100-listed telecoms company is said to have drawn serious takeover interest in its Openreach division from a new suitor...
The curious goings on at Telit Communications continue unabated.
Betaville hadn't noticed that after Dbay suddenly turned up on the shareholder register with almost 10pc that super secretive Hong Kong-based tycoon Tang Hao had also recently been amassing a 3.4pc shareholding in the 'internet of things' provider through his vehicle Discovery Key Investments...
IAG, the owner of British Airways, has now finally confirmed it IS weighing an equity capital raising. Below is the link to yesterday's statement:
https://investing.thisismoney.co.uk/news/article/id/7018001/..
Old Trevor Abrahmsohn really is getting himself out there.
Today the self-styled "estate agent to the rick and famous" appears in this The Times piece about his escapades selling North London piles to Russian oligarchs. Below is the link:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/inside-the-russian-oligarchs-london-property-splurge-r7bcw7l7z..
David Lenigas is back with a new venture: Lenigas PLC.
It looks like the brash serial small cap entrepreneur is launching a quasi hedge fund that plans to plough cash into resources stocks in a similar vein to the old RAB Capital. Below is a quote from Lenigas's Twitter feed...
So, BPCE chucked out a "denial" statement (see below) after a Financial Times story suggesting France's second largest banking group had been considering making an offer for the remainder of Natixis that it doesn't own...
Ping! An email arrives from Trevor Abrahmsohn of Glentree International, also known as the estate agent who sells top end piles in Hampstead (a smart of central London equivalent to the Upper West/East Sides in New York) and its environs...
For a small company internet-of-things provider Telit Communications certainly gets a lot of attention.
I guess that's to be expected if your former chief executive turns out to be a fugitive on the run from the US authorities and then an unknown Chinese outfit builds a near 16pc shareholding in your business, raising speculation the company is a takeover target for the stakebuilder...
Oh look - I see competitors over at the venerable Financial Times have published a tale about Natixis that is eerily similar to last week's alert on Betaville Intelligence. Below are the links:
https://www.betaville.co.uk/betaville-intelligence/rare-alert-natixis-said-to-part-3/..
Regular readers of this website won't be too surprised to read that the founders and directors of Boohoo have just bought a load of shares in the company they founded.
Below is the link to today's announced in which Mahmud Kamani, co-founder and executive chairman, disclosed he bought 5 million shares at 214.2p while Carol Kane, the other founder, bought 2 million shares at 214.2p...
There is talk circulating that Nanoco Group could be in line for hundreds of millions of dollars if it wins a patent row with Samsung.
Nanoco - which produces heavy-metal-free quantum dots - slipped out an announcement earlier this week about how it had reached an agreement with a top litigation funder to go after tech giant Samsung but didn't specify now much it estimates it could be in line for if it wins or settles it case with Samsung. Below is the link to the RNS:..
Betaville is still watching Tiziana Life Sciences. Why?
Well, the mutter is the Aim-listed biotechnology company is close to figuring out a way to increase liquidity through some corporate action.
And this could be happening sooner rather later.....
It seems some readers were paying attention to Monday's note on Tiziana Life Sciences, the Aim-listed biotechnology company.
The shares have almost closed the gap with the US line, up over 20pc in the last couple of days......
Clinigen shares took a bit of a battering today (down 10pc) following a mini profit warning from the company that 2021's profits will be at the "lower end" of guidance.
This is, according to the company, because of the impact of COVID-19 and an expected launch of a generic Foscavir in the Eruopean Union...
Remember Tiziana Life Sciences, the biotechnology company?
For some reason the Aim-listed shares are trading at around 30pc discount to the US-listed ADRs.
I'm not sure why but presumably that discount won't last for too long?.....
The rumoured transaction involving Natixis is said to be a takeover offer from the company's largest shareholder.
Two weeks ago, Betaville Intelligence reported that Natixis could soon see a corporate transaction that could be seen to be beneficial for the company's stock price...
So, it would appear yesterday's talk about Boohoo buying back shares was barking up the right tree. This morning the embattled Boohoo announced its Employee Benefit Trust bought 9.9 million shares at 255.8p. Below is the link to the announcement:..
There is talk circuclating the London market that Boohoo or its directors are currently buying a load of the embattled company's shares.
Perhaps, then, that's why the stock - which has been hammered over the last couple of days following allegations about the treatment of its workers - has leapt over 30pc at pixel time.
Either that or the shorts, such as Matt Earl's Shadowfall, are taking profit...
[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].