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.
Pluralsight Inc, the US-listed online technology training company, is at the centre of takeover speculation.
People following the situation have heard rumours a private equity firm may be interested in purchasing Pluralsight, which sells video training courses for software developers, IT administrators and creative professionals...
DBay advisors has just upped its stake in Telit Communications.
According to regulatory filings DBday now owns just over 15pc of the 'internet of things' designer.
In case you don't recall, DBay is one of the companies that has submitted a takeover approach for Telit Communications.
One presumes the canny investment manager, led by wily Colin Kingsnorth, suspects his firm is likely to face competition for Telit Communications.....
The takeover bids are coming in and fast in the London market as predators look to take advantage of ailing rivals, with Connells Group launching a raid on Countrywide.
In case you don't recall, Countrywide was trying to get a "strategic investment" deal done with Alchemy. The private equity firm had offered £90 million for a stake of between 50pc and 67pc in Countrywide...
Tucked away in the Mail on Sunday's stockwatch column is a snippet suggesting Sir Martin Sorrell's next deal might be done stateside.
Alex Lawson, who now edits the column, interviewed Sir Martin in last Sunday's section, so he was clearly well placed to prise out a hint about what the diminutive marketing communications dealmaker might be up to next...
Oh look: Codemasters has confirmed Betaville's UNCOOKED ALERT published earlier this afternoon. Below is a link to the announcement from the company, which effectively says its talking to Take-Two about a sale of the business for 485p a share...
The beast of financial journalism - Bloomberg - dug out today's mammoth M&A scoop with a tale about Canada's Intact Financial and Denmark's Tryg circling London-listed insurer RSA...
So farewell Crispin Odey, who is stepping down from the eponymous investment firm he founded almost three decades ago.
That seemed to be the line most of the national press focused on when it was announced earlier this week. And I guess it's not too surprising given the somewhat erractic performance of his Odey European Fund over the last decade and other, erm, issues...
Bloomberg just "revealed" that FTSE 100-listed Ferguson is shopping builders' merchant Wolseley to potential buyers after failing to demerge the business. Below is the link:
Football Clubs and national newspapers tend to be the favourite play things of choice for billionaires seeking social and political capital in the United Kingdom.
But with the newspapers' circulations on the wane and the valuations of football clubs in question it would appear TV channels are back in vogue...
I see Telit Communications has finally confirmed yesterday's RARE ALERT on Betaville Intelligence. Below are the links to today's confirmation and yesterday's story:
Telit Communications, the Aim-listed internet of things designer, is said to be "in play", with Canadian rival Sierra Wireless, activist investor Dbay and a mystery private equity firm all rumoured to be "actively" circling the business.
People following the situation have heard speculation Sierra Wireless may have already recently offered around 206p a share for Telit...
There are still multibillion dollar deals being done despite a potentially volatile US presidential election, the risk of future lockdowns and a mini stockmarket sell off.
Overnight, for example, in the US Dunkin' Brands Group agreed an $8.96 billion sale to Inspire Brands as part of an all cash transaction at a 20pc premium to the undisturbed share price. Below is a link to the details:..
British small cap enthusiasts scoffed when I asked them about Seeing Machines a few weeks ago.
But I still thought it worthwhile mentioning the developer of driver monitoring software in the Mail on Sunday's Stockwatch column that I occasionally write/edit as the tip came from a reliable well spoken City type. I have pasted the link below in case you don't recall:..
Sir Richard Branson's airline has been having a tough time for obvious reasons but Betaville hears the online wine retailer that bears the bearded entrepreneur's Virgin brand is doing rather well.
Virgin Wines, an online wine retailer, has seen substantial earnings growth over the last twelve months as a growing number of thirsty housebound drinkers order online and that has prompted the owners of the business to weigh a sale, said people following the situation...
Many of Betaville's loyal readers know Knightsbridge well. Some probably live there given its one of the smartest areas in central London similar to the Upper East Side in New York. But one thing it isn't known for is its innovative, cheap eateries that you find in hipster zones, such as Dalston, Clapton and Peckham.
If you want to eat out in Knightsbridge expect to pay high prices at places like Zuma and Zafferano...
Splashed across the front page of FT.com is a scoop about how LVMH and Tiffany are conducting off the record talks about a lower take out price for the jewellery group to avoid a court showdown. Below is the link:
https://www.ft.com/content/1fd7decd-5a99-467a-bf01-3c9a58c99426..
Alex Ralph and Tom Ball of The Times do an excellent job today in a double page spread of unpicking the links between Sir Charles Dunstone and Martin "the Rottweiler" Hughes's Toscafund, which has made a low ball offer for Talk Talk...
Well that didn't take long: just a few days after last week's "Cash calls - who is next - Part 17" the well spoken chaps at Peel Hunt aired almost identical comments about the likelyhood of another wave of cash calls in 2021, possibly by some of the companies that have already tapped the market for funds this summer.
Below is a link to a piece in The Times quoting Charles Hall, Peel Hunt's excellent head of research...
[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].