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.
Monday, 27 October 2014, 5:45 pm
If you are interested in the fate of Foxtons, the London estate agent everybody loves to hate, then Martin Waller's commentary column in The Times today is definitely worth a read.
In today's business comment, the veteran writer notes speculation that Jon Hunt - the founder of the estate agency who sold the business at the top of the London property market in 2007 to private equity investor BC Partners - may be interested in buying the company back...
Read more...
Sunday, 26 October 2014, 9:18 pm
Congratulations to Roger Bootle and Peter Rigby...
Read more...
Saturday, 25 October 2014, 3:22 pm
There is plenty of coverage this morning about the court case involving Dechert and Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, the mining company that used to be listed on the FTSE 100 index...
Read more...
Wednesday, 22 October 2014, 11:30 pm
Media types might interested to hear that Top Right Group, the company formerly known as Emap, is closing in on a decent-sized events and exhibition deal...
Read more...
Monday, 20 October 2014, 12:03 pm
Ping - an email arrives from a new reader.
It contains a picture of chap called Mr Seamas Daly, an Irish businessman who founded a printing company called Photo Images Ltd. He is picketing outside a law firm based in Dublin, Ireland.
..
Read more...
Friday, 17 October 2014, 4:00 am
Regular readers shouldn't be surprised to learn that the owners of Heathrow have just sold Aberdeen, Southampton and Glasgow airports to a consortium comprising Spain's Ferrovial and Macquarie for £1 billion...
Read more...
Thursday, 16 October 2014, 2:48 am
John Paulson's fund is clearly not happy about Abbvie's decision to examine backing out of the Shire deal. Here is what Paulson, who is a big shareholder in both Abbvie and Shire, has just told Bloomberg:..
Read more...
Wednesday, 15 October 2014, 2:55 am
Here is an interesting snippet on the sale of three airports by Heathrow Airport Holdings.
I have been told that the consortium comprising Spain's Ferrovial, Australia's Macquarie and Singapore fund GIC are close to finalising the £1 billion acquisition of Glasgow, Aberdeen and Southampton airports.
I know this story has been comprehensively covered in recent weeks but my sources tell me the deal might be announced at the end of this week. ..
Read more...
Monday, 13 October 2014, 11:55 pm
Great to be invited back on Tip TV with hosts Moose and Zac...
Read more...
Sunday, 12 October 2014, 1:23 pm
I must visit Santini more often...
Read more...
Thursday, 9 October 2014, 1:45 pm
..Read more...
Thursday, 9 October 2014, 6:53 am
What has happened to strategic review of Capital Economics, the economics consultancy founded by well-known economist and Daily Telegraph commentator Roger Bootle?
Readers might recall that in June 2013 I broke the story while working at Financial News that Capital Economics had hired advisers from Quayle Munro to work on a strategic review (banker parlance for a sale)...
Read more...
Wednesday, 8 October 2014, 1:26 am
Hat tip to the Bloomberg M&A reporting team for smoking out Glencore's approach to Rio Tinto about a $160 billion merger...
Read more...
Wednesday, 8 October 2014, 12:16 am
I see Hewlett-Packard yesterday indicated that it is considering further dealmaking after confirming its demerger plans...
Read more...
Tuesday, 7 October 2014, 2:07 am
Scribblers round at Goldman Sachs last Friday published a particularly bearish note on Marston's, the FTSE 250 pub company, and reiterated the shares are a "conviction sell". Ouch. ..
Read more...
Monday, 6 October 2014, 11:48 am
Old Russell Chambers got a mention in Dominic Walsh's diary column in The Times last Friday...
Read more...
Friday, 3 October 2014, 5:15 am
Interesting to see that former Kleinwort Benson banker Alan Yarrow was earlier this week elected to be the new Lord Mayor of London...
Read more...
Thursday, 2 October 2014, 12:23 am
I was expecting dealmaking the UK to roar back into life after Summer. But it's unusually quiet in the UK M&A market at the moment, with only just a couple of mid-market deals knocking around, such as Greene King's £700m bid for Spirit...
Read more...
Monday, 29 September 2014, 6:51 pm
I have spent the last few weeks trying to find out which investment bank has been advising Microchip Technology on its approach for CSR, the London-listed chipmaker. So far, I haven't turned up with anything...
Read more...
Thursday, 25 September 2014, 9:32 pm
Mike Ashley's multi-million pound punt on Tesco has certainly caused a stir in the London market this morning...
Read more...
[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].