It took a while but scribblers at some of the City of London's top brokers have finally figured out there is a merger & acquisition boom taking place in Britain.
So now every stock market broker is punting a list of takeover tips, with the chaps and chapettes at Canaccord Genuity the latest bunch to draw up a list of bid targets...
Scribblers at Quest are tipping ITV and housebuilder Crest Nicholson as takeover targets for private equity as part of a 'gold rush' period for buy-out firms looking to pick up oversold bargains from the London market.
Yes, you read that right - ITV. Below is a link to The Times piece highlighting Quest's research...
Ping! An email arrives from the cash flow experts at Quest, a division of broker Canaccord Genuity.
Graham Simpson, an analyst at Quest, believes London-based bankers are trying to stay employed by running around pitching leveraged buy-out ideas to a variety of private equity houses, sovereign wealth funds and dealmakers. No surprises there, I guess...
Betaville spends a lot of time talking to top City of London dealmakers even when they are working from home. Most of them say that everything that was being looked at by potential acquirers prior to early March is either off or on hold. Some M&A bankers are looking at moving into restructuring...
Ping! An email arrives in Betaville's inbox from Canaccord Genuity with a press release promoting the fact that it has appointed Shannon Soqui as head of "US Cannabis Investment Banking".
That shocked a few old school City types!..