You may have missed last weekend's Mail on Sunday business section, so I have pasted the link below to a piece I wrote about The Analyst, a small but growing research firm that claims to have been the first to identify issues at Wirecard.
https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-8490357/Briton-spot-fall-Wirecard.html..
Charming Crispin Odey told a former Telegraph colleague, Katherine Griffiths of The Times, yesterday that he now plans to sue the German regulator for introducing a short selling ban on Wirecard last year. Below is the link to Katherine's excellent piece:..
I thought I would let the venerable Financial Times bathe in the glory of its Wirecard investigation for a few days before publishing this post.
I have to admit the FT's series of articles on Wirecard is one of the finest pieces of financial journalism I have witnessed since I began my career on The Daily Telegraph's City desk all those years ago...
Just when you thought things couldn't get weirder at Wirecard: along comes Deka.
The German investor, which owns a 1.6pc, shareholding in the controversial payments company is calling for the removal of Markus Braun, chief executive. Below is a link to Deka's quotes:
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/deka-demands-removal-of-wirecard-ceo-2020-05-06..
Does anybody else think the juxtoposition of Sir Chris Hohn taking a short position in Wirecard and his very public call for the removal of the German company's chief executive a bit odd?
You could understand why the German company's surpervisory board might acquiesce to The Childrens' Investment Fund if the firm had pursued its usual method of buying a sizeable stake in the company...
Perhaps it isn't all bad news for Crispin Odey: his chum, British prime minister Boris Johnson, won a huge majority for the Tories on Friday.
That comes after Odey called on British business leaders to back Boris in an interview with yours truly for the Mail on Sunday's business section over the summer. Below is a link:..
Poor Crispin Odey - his flagship Odey European Fund is back at the top of HSBC's loserboard.
According the bank's hedge weekly review, charming Crispin is down 22pc as of the middle of November, leaving him at risk of finishing the year as the worst performing European hedgie for the second time in four years...
Two separate stories about SoftBank and its leader, Masayoshi Son, broke this morning but Betaville found the juxtaposition of the pieces rather intriguing.
The first tale was about SoftBank spending almost $1 billion on Wirecard convertible bonds that could also give the Japanese conglomerate a 5.6pc stake in the German digital payments company. Below is a link to piece in the FT on the topic:..
Charming Crispin was gracious enough to talk to little old Betaville last week about the Wirecard shenanigans despite the ribbing over the past few years.
So, in you case missed it over the weekend I have pasted a link to the mini interview with Crispin - last year's pest performing hedge fund manager, according to HSBC - in yesterday's Mail on Sunday's excellent business section...
It would appear last Friday's post on Wirecard as part of a 6 part series of stories dating back from 2016 has got quite a few readers' knickers in a twist.
Clearly, many followers of the site didn't bother to read past the headline and just presumed Betaville was reporting the Chinese are in talks about taking a 25pc stake in Wirecard.....
Betaville's Wirecard series returns!
Why?
Well, after reading today's front page of the Companies & Markets section of the venerable Financial Times about Ant Financial's $700 million purchase of WorldFirst Betaville was struck by the fact that the timing of the deal is rather amusing given that the Chinese group was once suggested as a potential investor/acquirer of 25pc of Wirecard...
If you have been following the fortunes of Wirecard over the last couple of years then this piece (see the link below) by the venerable Financial Timesis worth a read.
Wirecard, a digital payment processing company, was recently promoted to the Germany's blue chip index Dax after seeing its shares surge over the last couple of years and its market cap grow to EURO 23 billion.
But the chaps at the FT have had a bee in their bonnet about Wirecard since 2016.....
Remember Wirecard?
Let me remind you in case you don't: it's the controversial German payment company that two years ago was the focus of a public attack by short sellers.
And two years ago, Betaville broke a series of stories about how Wirecard had seen interest from the Chinese, possibly China Mobile, about buying a large stake in the business. Below is a link to one of those pieces:..
I have a little update on the Wirecard story I wrote about a few weeks ago.
Regular readers will be well aware that about a month ago I broke a story about how Wirecard is/was in talks with a mystery Chinese investor, thought to be China Mobile, about purchasing a 25pc stake in Wirecard or, possibly, the entire company...
Wow - I thought yesterday's piece might ruffle a few feathers but I never expected the torrent of angry banter I received throughout the afternoon...
A mystery Chinese company is in talks with German payment processor outfit Wirecard about a deal to buy a significant stake in the business or even purchase the group outright.
According to well-placed sources, a Chinese telecoms company has been talking to Wirecard, whose current market capitalisation stands at EURO 4.7 billion, for quite some time about a partnership and a potential deal...