Betaville

Chevron may launch a takeover bid for BP, suggests Kleinman in City AM

Another week, another punchy takeover prediction for 2024 from Mark "The Kleinmanator" Kleinman of Sky News.

This time Kleiny - a former boss and colleague during our time on The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph - is forecasting in his City AM column that FTSE 100-listed oil giant BP may receive a takeover bid, or possibly bids, from US giant Chevron or/and Royal Dutch Shell. Below is a link to Kleiny's intriguing column:..

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LVMH may try to buy Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA; Royal Dutch Shell may look at BP takeover, suggests the FT

The newspapers' New Year's predictions roll on into New Year's day.

This time it is the FT's turn to wildly speculate about deals that might happen in 2024.

And hacks at the venerable newspaper aren't holding back. Adrienne Klasa, for example, seems to think that Bernard Arnault, the billionaire boss of LVMH, is keen to do another major deal and may be thinking about Switzerland-listed Compagnie Financiere Richemont, the company that owns Cartier...

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Vertu Motors may be a takeover target in 2024, writes The Sunday Times

It's that time of the year when weekend newspapers look to fill their pages with predictions for the following twelve months.

And one prediction, in particular, by a chum at The Sunday Times stood out to little old Betaville today.

Jim "Armo" Armitage, The Sunday Times business editor, has tipped Vertu Motors because one his "Arthur Daley"-esque snouts has suggested 2024 will be the year the car dealer gets a takeover bid...

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Hipgnosis rival builds stake in ailing music rights firm, reveals The Daily Telegraph

Tucked away in the back of today's The Daily Telegraph is decent story about Hipgnosis, the music rights arm that has been in the headlines recently.

According to Telegraph hack James Warrington, Josh Gruss - the chief executive of Round Hill Music - has "bought shares in Hipgnosis Songs Fund"...

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Marks and Spencer may be a takeover target, suggests Kleinman in City AM

It's been a while since the London market saw a FTSE 100 food retailer takeover bid.

So little old Betaville's eyes almost popped out while reading Mark "The Kleinmanator" Kleinman's column in City AM...

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Biotechnology double deals...

Little old Betaville has noticed that three of the world's largest pharmaceutical giants have all recently done two major takeover deals within a few weeks, and in some cases days, of each other...

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Bristol Myers Squibb buys Karuna Therapeutics for $14 billion, reveals the Wall Street Journal

The US biotechnology dealmaking wave rumbles on.

This time round pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb is paying $14 billion for Karuna Therapeutics, which is developing a drug for shizophrenia.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Bristol Myers Squibb is offering $330 a share in cash for Karuna. Below is a link to the WSJ scoop:..

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The Times tips Ladbrokes owner Entain as a takeover target...

The Times appears to be publishing its New Year tips early.

Emma Powell, editor of The Tempus stocktipping column, today concludes in her lengthy piece about the FTSE 100-listed the owner of Ladbrokes and Gala Coral that "a potential bid for Entain by MGM Resorts seems more probable than it has done for some time"...

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Harbour Energy buys Wintershall Dea's oil and gas assets for $11.2 billion

Who would have thought the London market would see one of the biggest deals of 2023 announced in the penultimate week of the year.

But this afternoon it happened, with London-listed North Sea oil and gas explorer Harbour Energy announcing a deal to buy Wintershal Dea's assets for $11.2 billion from Germany's BASF and LetterOne, which is backed by sanction-hit Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven...

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Saudi Telecom Company said to be sniffing around Drahi's stake in BT Group, reports The Times

Dominic "Dom" Walsh, veteran business hack on The Times, began his market report with an intriguing line about how the Saudi Telecom Company is circling BT Group, the FTSE 100-listed telecoms giant.

According to Dom's report, the Saudi Telecom Company may be talking to Patrick Drahi about buying some or all of his shareholding in BT Group following a period in which the Switzerland-based telecoms billionaire has been accumulating a 25pc stake...

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Warner Brothers Discovery in $40 billion merger talks with Paramount Global, reveals Axios

A decent scoop from American digital publishing start up Axios.

According to Axios, Warner Brothers Discovery is in talks to merge with Paramount to create a $40 billion media entertainment behemoth...

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Aon splashes out $13.4 billion on NFP

The end of year dealmaking rush continues.

This time Aon, one of the world's largest insurance brokers, has just announced it has bought a property and casualty broker NFP from private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners and HPS Investment Partners for $13.4 billion. Below is a link to today's deal details:..

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LondonMetric in £4 billion merger talks with LXI REIT, reveals Bloomberg - Part 2

So, it turns out it wasn't Bloomberg that broke the story about LXI REIT's £4 billion merger talks with LondonMetric.

It was, in fact, React News that broke the story 15 minutes before Bloomie pumped out their own version.

Hat tip, then, to React News for landing the scoop and apologies for attributing it to our arch rivals at Bloomberg...

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LondonMetric in £4 billion merger talks with LXI REIT, reveals Bloomberg

There has been talk of consolidation among London-listed property companies and real estate investment trusts for a while and it would appear Bloomberg have just broken a decent scoop about a potential landmark transaction.

According to Bloomie, FTSE 250-listed REIT LondonMetric is in talks with to merge with LXI REIT. Below is a link to the Bloomberg scoop:..

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Frasers Group in talks to buy Matchesfashion, reveals Sky News

Mark "The Kleinmanator" Kleinman, City Editor of Sky News, is up early with a decent scoop about Mike Ashley's Frasers Group.

According to Kleiny - a former colleague during our time working on The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph - Frasers Group is in talks with private equity firm Apax about buying Matchesfashion, the online upmarket fashion retailer...

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