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.
Tuesday, 23 April 2024, 10:43 am
After last week's small sell off some market participants are claiming the 'new' bear market has arrived but that doesn't appear to be dampening dealmaking activity.
Indeed, Italian coffee maker Luigi Lavazza SpA just launched a cash offer for Italian vending machine maker IVS.
Lavazza will pay EURO 7.15 a share to other investors as part a complicated take private alongside IVS largest shareholder...
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Tuesday, 23 April 2024, 7:27 am
British business media commentators like to complain about how London-listed businesses are being gobbled up by 'foreign' predators.
But JD Sports, the London-listed sportswear retailer, has this morning shown it's not all one way traffic.
The company announced the acquisition of US-listed sporting goods retailer Hibbett for $87 a share or over $1 billion. Below is a link to the press release:..
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Monday, 22 April 2024, 8:04 am
Another London-listed business looks set to fall into the hands of an American predator.
This time US-listed Quanex Building Products Corporation has agreeed to purchase Tyman, the London-listed doorbell maker, for £788 million.
It's bit of complicated part cash, part share deal valuing Tyman at around 400p a share. Below is a link to the details of the offer:..
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Sunday, 21 April 2024, 4:34 pm
There were plenty of deal stories in the British Sunday newspapers today.
One tale that caught little old Betaville's eye was a story by Mark "Shappers" Shapland in the Mail on Sunday about a possible takeover bid for London-listed shoe maker Dr Martens.
Shappers writes that: "Dr Martens is being circled by some of the world's leading fashion companies and could be about to fall into hands of foreign owners"...
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Saturday, 20 April 2024, 10:50 am
Mark "The Kleinmanator" Kleinman of Sky News has just popped up with a decent scoop about how Blackstone is weighing tabling a counter bid for Hipgnosis, the London-listed owner of songs by Blondie, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Kaiser Chiefs.
According to Kleiny, Blackstone has already table several offers for the Hipgnosis Songs Fund, including one offer at 82p a share and another at 88p. Below is a link to the Sky News report:..
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Friday, 19 April 2024, 2:37 pm
Here is a lesson for younger hacks, investors and bankers.
In May 2023, Daniel Kretinsky, the eastern European billionaire dubbed the 'Czech Sphinx', suggested to Oliver "Shahsy" Shah of The Sunday Times in a wide ranging, set piece on the record interview that he has no intention of launching a takeover bid for Royal Mail...
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Betaville IntelligenceFriday, 19 April 2024, 8:00 am
And now the Wall Street Journal has decided to follow up little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alert about Bentley Systemc Inc, the US-listed software firm.
The WSJ's claims France's Schneider Electric is in early stage talks to buy Bentley Systems Inc as part of a deal that values the company at over $15 billion. Below is a link to the WSJ piece. Below is the link to that piece: ..
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 18 April 2024, 7:43 pm
Rivals at Reuters have just published an "exclusive" about the Bentley Systems Inc takeover talks. Below is the link to the piece:
https://www.reuters.com/technology/bentley-systems-explores-options-amid-takeover-interest-sources-say-2024-04-18/..
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Thursday, 18 April 2024, 7:29 am
Concord Chorus, the music rights consolidator backed by US private equity giant Apollo, has agreed to purchase beleguered Hipgnosis for just over $1.4 billion.
According to this morning's release, Hipgnosis has recommended an offer of $1.16 in cash from Concord. Below is a link to this morning's press release:..
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Wednesday, 17 April 2024, 11:33 am
Deal hacks at the Financial Times have just delivered a decent scoop.
According to the venerable Financial Times, Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is preparing a takeover bid for Royal Mail owner International Distributions Services. Below is a link to the FT story:
https://www.ft.com/content/a6f0251b-454b-4aa8-9c16-aee03f0c2e46..
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Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 17 April 2024, 10:32 am
Abu Dhabi-based TAQA has now confirmed it is in discussions with the largest shareholders in Naturgy Energy Group about purchasing their shareholdings in the Spanish gas and electricity group.
Below is a link to the Reuters story with the confirmation from TAQA:..
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Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 17 April 2024, 8:31 am
There was more follow up in the Spanish press of little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alert about the Naturgy Energy Group takeover rumours.
This morning Expansion reported that TAQA, the Abu Dhabi-based group circling Naturgy, had hired bankers from NM Rothschild and Lazard to advice it on "was to enter Naturgy's" capital.
Then just now Naturgy's shares were suspended.
I wonder what could be going on...?..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersTuesday, 16 April 2024, 8:55 pm
Betaville IntelligenceTuesday, 16 April 2024, 12:06 pm
And now for the formal confirmation to little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alerts about the potential Naturgy Energy Group deal.
Criteria, Naturgy Energy Group's largest shareholder, has said on the record it is in discussions with an investor group that has been talking to some of Spanish energy provider's core shareholders over a "possible partnership agreement"...
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Betaville IntelligenceTuesday, 16 April 2024, 8:27 am
Another day, another follow up to little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alert about the Naturgy Energy Group takeover talks.
This time it is Cinco Dias that is reporting that the AD Power, a division of sovereign wealth fund ADQ, is in negotiations with the largest shareholders of Spain's Naturgy Energy Group about a bid for the whole company. According to the newspaper, the deal would be conducted through AP Power's TAQA unit...
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Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 15 April 2024, 7:58 am
It would appear Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia has decided to follow up little old Betaville's UNCOOKED alert from last week about the takeover and stakebuilding talk surrounding Spanish gas firm Naturgy.
According to La Vanguardia, a firm from the United Arab Emirates is in talks with Criteria Caixa - Naturgy's largest shareholder - about purchasing shareholdings from private equity firm CVC Capital and GIP...
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Saturday, 13 April 2024, 7:31 am
I see The Wall Street Journal has broken the Informatica takeover story little old Betaville was chasing down yesterday afternoon.
According to the venerable WSJ, Salesforce is in advanced talks to buy US-listed data management company Informatica.
However, in an odd twist the WSJ claims the price of the deal being discussed is below Informatica's current share price of $38.48...
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Friday, 12 April 2024, 8:57 am
Rivals at Reuters picked up an interesting tale last night about how the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company held takeover talks with FTSE 100-listed oil giant BP.
Little old Betaville's former employers at The Daily Telegraph also deemed the story important enough to run on the front page of its business section. Below are the relevant links:..
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Thursday, 11 April 2024, 3:45 pm
So, the bears have come out of the woods and are now publicly mauling Global Life Inc, the US-listed insurance group.
Loyal readers might recall that a couple of weeks ago little old Betaville highlighted how bears were circling Global Life Inc. Below is a link to that story:
https://www.betaville.co.uk/news/bears-circle-global-life-inc/..
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Thursday, 11 April 2024, 7:26 am
Dealmaking continues despite worries about a stockmarket sell off.
This morning self storage giant Shurgard announced the £378 million takeover of London-listed rival Lok'nStore. Below are the full details of the offer, which is pitched at just a 15.9pc premium...
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[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].