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.
Thursday, 14 November 2019, 1:49 pm
Capital & Counties, the London-listed property company, is said to be close to striking a deal to sell some or all of the business.
People following the situation said an anouncement about a transaction could be made in the next few days although it isn't clear whether the deal is just for company's troubled Earls Court site in London or the whole company, which includes Covent Garden...
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 14 November 2019, 8:35 am
It's been a busy few days at Betaville towers, so I completely missed the fact that Alba Mineral Resources confirmed last week's RARE Alert about a potential placing just a few hours after this website published the piece.
Below is a link to the confirmation from Alba Mineral Resources:..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersThursday, 14 November 2019, 8:06 am
Wednesday, 13 November 2019, 5:55 pm
It's pretty quiet in UK private equity land at the moment. No surprises there given the fact there is a general election coming up in a month in what is likely to be one of the most unpredictable votes of all time despite what the polls say. Remember, the polls got it completely wrong in 2015.
So, several London-based buy-out heads have told Betaville they are sitting on there on hands at the moment, waiting to see what the outcome of the election is...
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Tuesday, 12 November 2019, 4:46 pm
Sifting through content on Bloomberg can be a depressing for Betaville. That's because I often encounter a scoop I missed, yet another piece about London house prices or a review of an expensive restaurant I can't afford...
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersTuesday, 12 November 2019, 2:43 pm
Monday, 11 November 2019, 7:04 pm
The frothiness continues unabated with KKR coming forward to submit a formal takover proposal for Walgreens Boots Alliance. Click on the link to the Financial Times piece below for the latest on the deal:
https://www.ft.com/content/9824af60-049d-11ea-a984-fbbacad9e7dd
Now Betaville was a bit sceptical that a $70 billion leveraged buy-out of Walgreens Boots Alliance would actually happen...
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Betaville IntelligenceFriday, 8 November 2019, 7:09 pm
I see Hurricane Energy has made a statement following this morning's UNCOOKED Alert about the large find at the company's Warwick West in the North Sea. Below is the link:
https://www.investegate.co.uk/hurricane-energy-plc--hur-/rns/response-to-media-speculation/201911081051478032S/..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersFriday, 8 November 2019, 6:15 pm
Betaville IntelligenceFriday, 8 November 2019, 9:44 am
Hurricane Energy, the London-listed oil explorer, is said to have struck a huge amount of oil at its Warwick West well in the North Sea.
People following the situation said this was a "large" discovery following September's announcement about the spudding of Wawick West...
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Thursday, 7 November 2019, 8:32 pm
A good old fashioned dogfight is brewing in the skies above London’s junior stockmarket.
The legal battle between Gama Aviation - an AIM-listed private jet supplier to celebs, such as Lewis Hamilton before he ditched the mode of transport - and one of its customers, millionaire Andre Serruys, centres on allegations of false invoicing, dodgy deals for private jet parts and a failure to maintain Serruys’ plane, a Challenger 601 private jet...
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Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 6 November 2019, 6:22 am
Alba Mineral Resources, the Aim-listed mineral exploration and development company, is said be working on an equity placing.
People familiar with the situation said advisers from First Equity are working on the fundraising for Alba Mineral Resources, which has a stake in the so-called "Gatwick Gusher", the oil exploration project just a few miles away from the airport...
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Tuesday, 5 November 2019, 7:17 pm
It's getting frothy out there.
First off: it emerges Stefano Pessina is exploring a $70 billion plus leveaged buy-out of Walgreens Boots Alliance. The last time Italian took a company private was just before the credit crunch in 2007 when he acquired Alliance Boots for £11 billion with the backing of KKR, Wall Street's most powerful private equity firm...
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Betaville IntelligenceTuesday, 5 November 2019, 2:25 pm
So, it would appear Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund isn't involved in Nick Candy's £2.3 billion takeover bid for Capital & Counties after all.
According to some sources familiar with the matter, the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United Kingdom has just written to the residents of Gibbs Green and West Kensington to let them know that "I have been informed there is no involvment from the Saudi Public Investment Fund"...
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersMonday, 4 November 2019, 7:04 pm
Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 4 November 2019, 6:00 pm
Is Nick Candy planning to turn the former exhibition centre at Earls Court into a new stadium for Chelsea Football Club?
The reason I posit this question is because reliable sources have been in touch with Betaville claiming the well-known developer was looking at such a plan several years ago when he first started examining a takeover bid of Capital & Counties...
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersMonday, 4 November 2019, 9:46 am
Friday, 1 November 2019, 5:10 pm
Hat tip to Simon English of the Evening Standard's City section.
English, one of Betaville's favourite business writers, nosed off the market report with a cracking jackanory about Lloyds Bank looking at beleguered Metro Bank and the shares leapt almost 15pc in response. Below is a link to Simon's market report:..
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Thursday, 31 October 2019, 5:28 pm
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been sniffing around Independent Oil & Gas's debt.
People familiar with the situation said Ineos, Sir Jim's chemicals company, bid on Independent Oil and Gas's bonds before the North Sea oil explorer decided to repay some of the non-convertible debt held by failed outfit London Oil and Gas, which is associated with controversial City firm London Capital & Finance...
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersThursday, 31 October 2019, 4:43 pm
[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].