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.
I'm not a huge fan of Canary Wharf (I used to work there when I first started on the The Daily Telegraph) but I have just stumbled across a rather interesting tale about the financial district and one of the banks based there. ..
Great news! Carphone Warehouse and Dixons Retail have finally confirmed the details of their £3.8 billion merger in a statement today. Here is a link to the formal announcement:..
Evening Betavillers. Sorry for the lack of posts today - I have been a bit busy doing some freelance work for the The Times. ..
I'm surprised to see none of the rumours about Pfizer launching a hostile bid for AstraZeneca end up in the Sunday newspapers today...
Sorry for the lack of posts in the last couple of days. I have been busy scurrying around in the undergrowth (mainly pubs in City of London and Mayfair hotel bars) trying to dig up some jackanories for loyal Betaville readers. ..
Happy days - it looks like a major deal story I broke earlier in the year is actually going to happen...
Is Hikma Pharmaceuticals the next takeover target in the pharmaceutical sector?
The boys over The Motley Fool certainly seem to think so.
Here is a link to a piece they published this morning outlining why Hikma might be of interest to Mylan, which recently tried to buy Sweden's Meda:..
Interesting to see Italian newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore report today that Whirlpool is one of the front runners to buy a stake in Indesit, the home appliances company that sponsors Arsenal Football Club...
So Pfizer's new indicative offer for AstraZeneca came in yesterday at £50.00 a share...
I was invited back onto Tip TV this morning to talk about deals, potential upcoming deals and general backslapping for predicting Pfizer would come back for AstraZeneca.
Here is a link to today's show: http://www.tiptv.co.uk/archives/tip-tv-highlight-ben-harrington-01-05-2014/..
Here's an interesting snippet I recently picked up about Weir Group's attempt to "merge" with Finnish company Metso.
Good sources have told me the maximum price Weir Group is willing to pay for Metso is EURO 28 a share.
When Weir Group revealed the details of its £8.5 billion all-share takeover proposal earlier this month the FTSE 100 company said it had offered 0.8400 shares for every Metso share, which back then worked out at EURO 25.70 a share...
Wow - today's news about Pfizer formally launching its $100 billion takeover bid for AstraZeneca has sent the pharmacuetical sector rumour mill into overdrive...
Loyal Betaville readers might be pleased to hear my celebrity status is increasing as I was asked back onto to Tip TV today...
Loyal Betaville readers may recall that a few weeks ago I published a post about FTSE 250 pub companies Mitchells & Butlers and Greene King...
Here's an interesting tale about one of Britain's oldest retailers...
Huge hat tip to Ben Marlow, the M&A reporter over at The Sunday Times. ..
I see Finnish engineering company Metso has today rejected Weir Group's £8.5 billion all-share merger proposal. Not much of a surprise there following last week's shenanigans on Betaville...
An Australian investment group that manages pensions for the New South Wales police force has secretly purchased a multi-million pound stake in Yorkshire Water, one of Britain's largest water companies...
There is a bit of a buzz in European markets about a US company called Wellcare Health Plans Inc and I think I know why...
[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].