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 was in a rather good mood until yesterday lunch time.
That's because as I strolled into the office yesterday morning another Betaville scoopette (the story about Integumen trying to buy RhinoCloud for £3 million) was confirmed on the UK's regulatory news service. Below is the link:..
Integumen, the company involved in developing non-animal skin testing technology Labskin, is poised to carry out a £3 million takeover of RinoCloud, a data management platform.
People claiming to be familiar with the matter said a £3 million purchase of RinoCloud will be unveiled alongside a £2.75 million equity fundraising in the next few days, possibly as early as tomorrow morning...
There is an old saying in (British) journalism: "three makes a trend".
I guess, then, we are half way there when it comes to the French Canadians and British businesses.
Several week's ago Saputo - based in Montreal, Canada - paid £1 billion for London-listed cheesemaker Dairy Crest.
And yesterday it emerged Garda World, whose headquarters are also in Montreal, is weighing a £3 billion takeover of accident-prone security company G4S...
Betaville is a regular reader of Simon English's columns in the Evening Standard as they are often rammed with excellent jokes, profound insight and newsy titbits...
Betaville's CCP theme appears to be catching on.
According to the market report in the The Times today, JP Morgan downgraded Britain's water companies amid fears that once the Corbynistas get in power the whole of the listed water sector will be re-nationalized. Below is a link to the piece by Emily Gosden, a former colleague from my time at The Daily Telegraph:..
Integumen, the company involved in developing non-animal skin testing technology Labskin, is preparing to tap equity investors for up to £3 million.
People claiming to be familiar with the matter said Integumen is looking to raise fresh capital by issuing new stock to investors at around 1.5p a share.
It's thought the fundraising deal is relatively advanced and could be announced imminently, said people claiming to be familiar with the matter...
Hurrah for Betaville!
Another scoopette has been confirmed. This time it was yesterday morning's tale about Gaucho Grill combining with rival steakhouse M Restaurtants, which was founded by the chief executive of the former.
Below is a link to the press release:..
Most people in the City of London have heard of Gaucho Grill. That's because the steak chain is frequented by bankers, brokers and private equity bucaneers looking to celebrate a deal with a slap up meal.
But last year the group was in peril after it fell into administration, with 500 Gaucho Grill employees losing their jobs in the process...
Readers will be more than aware of plans by the City of London's banks, brokers and investment funds to accommodate for Brexit.
Indeed, some of the City's traders and bankers have already been shifted to Paris and Frankfurt with others on standby to move in the event of a hard or disordely Brexit.
But now there is a new plan whipping around the market dubbed "CCP", which is also known as the "Corbyn Contigency Plan"...
The bust up at Superdry between its board and founder/largest shareholder has been almost as fractitious as the dreaded Brexit row in Parliament.
So, Simon English of the Evening Standard has come up with an ingenious way to end it...
Betaville endeavours to break accurate and exclusive deal stories big or small.
Indeed, ten days ago this website broke the news about Apax and Warburg Pincus's multi-billion pound approach for FTSE 250-listed Inmarsat, which was confirmed an hour after publication...
Here is an oddity that Betaville has never encountered before: a company disclosing a bid rumour about itself on its own website that hasn't yet been talked about in the market or been published by the media.
Yes, Aim-listed President Energy has done precisely that on its "Frequently Asked Questions" page, where it posits the question about Peter Levine, chairman and chief executive, taking the company private...
Ping! An email arrives with what hedgies dub the "sports pages".
These "sports pages" are also known as HSBC's Hedge Weekly, which is a performance review of European hedge funds.
Last year, charming Crispin Odey - a leading City Brexiteer who runs Odey Asset Management - topped the leaderboard but this year it seems to be populated by a bunch of funds nobody has ever heard of, such as Muirfield GSE Partners, Golden China Fund and Tonga Partners...
Apologies for the lack posts in the last 24 hours Betavillers - I have been tied up on a few things.
I note, though, that UK Oil & Gas confirmed Tuesday evening's scoopette about the company's surprise equity fundraising. As usual, Betaville had to endure the usual torrent of abuse from Twitter trolls claiming my story was rubbish...
Another year, another UKOG placing.
People claiming to be familiar with the matter UK Oil & Gas is said to be tapping up investors for fresh capital, again.
The Aim-listed company, which is developing the so-called Gatwick Gusher, is looking to raise between £3 million and £5 million at around 1p a share, said people claiming to be familiar with the matter.
The people added that brokers at WH Ireland are working on the deal for UK Oil & Gas...
The owner of Drapers magazine is in talks to buy Centaur Media's financial division for up to £5 million.
Sources familiar with the matter said Metropolis International is closing in on the acquisition of titles such as Money Marketing and Mortgage Strategy after entering "advanced negotiations" with Centaur Media about the deal...
Motif Bio, a clinic stage biopharmaceutical company, is tapping investors for up to $3 million.
People claiming to be familiar with the situation said Motif Bio is looking to raise the fresh capital at a 25pc discount to last Friday's opening price.
The proceeds from the equtiy fundraising will be used as working capital, said people claiming to be familiar with the matter...
[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].