A cheeky website about deals, dealmakers and anything else I find interesting. Edited by Ben Harrington. If you have a tip, want to discuss a story or have a subscription enquiry please feel free to email Betaville at [email protected]. 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 placing Rolls-Royce (no pun intended) on the ""cash calls - who is next?" list.
Now, readers might be asking why given the lockdowns are ending and stockmarkets are recovering.
Well, some very large and influential institutional investors suggested to little old Betaville an equity capital raising at Rolls-Royce is likely in the next few months...
So...there was no statement from AstraZeneca this morning regarding Gilead.
And both the The Times and The Daily Telegraph appear to be poring cold water on the prospect of $200 billion plus merger, which was unveiled yesterday by Bloomberg. Below is the link to The Times report:..
There is a big story breaking on Bloomberg right now about AstraZeneca trying to buy Gilead to create a $200 billion pharmaceutical giant. Below is the link:..
Seafox International has been accumulating more stock in Gulf Marine Services, the Abu Dhabi-based oilfield services company that it tried to buy last month.
People following the situation said Seafox, which runs "jack-up" units for oil and gas explorers, now owns around 29pc of Gulf Marine after disclosing earlier this week that it had lifted its shareholding to 26.41pc.
The move comes after Seafox offered 10p a share for Gulf Marine Services...
Speculation is mounting a mystery suitor is set to launch a tender offer for some or all of Urban Exposure, the Aim-listed property finance company.
People following the situation said an unknown acquirer is weighing launching a tender offer at between 55p and 65p a share.
Urban Exposure has been carrying out a strategic review after receiving several proposals for its loan book, including one from the Wellesley Group, an investment company run by the Earl of Cowley...
Clinigen, an Aim-listed medical supplies company, has come under the spotlight amid takeover talk.
People following the situation said a potential acquirer is eyeing the company, which supplies drugs for clinical trials and also distributes unlicensed pharmaceuticals to pharmacists.
One person following the situation suggested purchaser could be a private equity firm...
It's that time of the week when Betaville writes about Tiziana Life Sciences, the Aim-listed biopharmceutical developer.
Well, readers might recall that last Friday I suggested there are all sorts of things brewing at Tiziana Life Sciences.
And I understand some fresh data could emerge in the next week that could be transformational for the business, making Tiziana Life Sciences of interest to the pharmaceutical giants...
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...
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:..
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...
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...
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:..
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:
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:..
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/..
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...
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...
[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].