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.
Bond giant Pimco said to appoint Moelis ahead of major financial restructuring of Galapagos Holdings - sources
One of the largest leveraged buy-outs of a European business in the last decade could be heading towards a major financial restructuring after the owners of the company's debt appointed bankers to look at their "options"...
Quelle Surprise: RELX buys Mack Brooks for £200 million.
Simon Duke's tale on the front page of the business of The Times about RELX purchasing events organiser Mack Brooks for £200 million caught Betaville's eye this morning. Below is the link:
RARE ALERT: Millicom International Cellular said to ... - Part 3
Most British hacks, even business journalists, will be fixated on the politics of Brexit this evening but for those market watchers wanting a bit of light relief do read on.
So, there were plenty of media organisations claiming to have "smoked out" Millicom International Cellular's merger talks with cable cowboy John Malone today and yesterday...
Bubblin Bank of Jamaica...
Central bankers tend to come across as a straight-laced, staid bunch who speak in boring riddles so as not to freak out markets too much.
So, hat tip to the Bank of Jamaica, the central bank for the Caribbean island, for its latest short (music) video clip on "inflation targeting" that is a lot more fun and upbeat than the standard trite remarks (especially if they are from the Bank of England)...
RARE ALERT: Millicom International Cellular said t..
RARE ALERT: Altitude Group said to be in talks to purchase AI Mastermind - Part 2
Quelle Surprise - Altitude Group has confirmed Betaville's RARE ALERT from yesterday afternoon despite some "shenanigans" from people close to the company.
Below is a link to the announcement on the RNS in case you missed it:
RARE ALERT: Altitude Group said to be in talks to purchase AI Mastermind
Betaville got in touch with a few City of London bigwigs this week to see whether there was much afoot. Lo and behold it turns out the dreaded end of March Brexit deadline has put a bit of a dampener on top end dealmaking in the Square Mile, at least. Sad face.
There are, though, a few bits and pieces happening down at the lower end of the market...
REVEALED: Morgan Stanley's bogs in Canary Wharf top the league tables.
Betaville stumbled across this rather curious piece on eFinancialCareers - https://news.efinancialcareers.com/uk-en/331360/morgan-stanley-london-office - about how brilliant Morgan Stanley's toilets are whilst trawling the internet this morning...
Quelle Surprise: Arthur J Gallagher buys Stackhouse Poland...
For most people working in the City today was their first day back in the office and many will be pleasantly surprised by the raft of deal announcements following a couple of torrid months in equity markets.
One that caught Betaville's eye was Arthur J Gallagher's acquisition of British high-end insurance broker Stackhouse Poland...
RARE ALERT: Millicom International Cellular said t..
Is the tide turning for Odey the Brexiteer? - the end - Part 2
Oh look - it would appear Betaville's rivals over at Bloomberg are echoing last Sunday's piece by yours truly in the Mail on Sunday's business section.
Below is the link to yesterday's piece on Bloomberg:..
Is the tide turning for Odey the Brexiteer? - the end
Yes! - seems to be the definitive answer to the question posited in the headline of this near 40 part series of stories.
In part, that's because Crispin's flagship Odey European fund finished the year top of the HSBC rankings with a gain of over 50pc.
Also, the charasmatic hedgie's "bear" thesis appears to now be playing out in world markets although not quite yet in its entirety of predicted doom...
RARE ALERT: Dairy Crest said to .....
2018 - a year of private equity tyre kicking...
On the cusp of the New Year Betaville thought looking backwards might be useful excercise to figure out what 2019 holds, especially for those bankers, lawyers and investors looking to get involved in dealmaking next year.
One thing that struck Betaville was the amount of attempted leveraged buy-outs of public companies, in particular UK-listed businesses, that failed to make it over the finishing line...
Quelle Surprise: Gatwick Airport sold...- Part 2
I see the follow up coverage of yesterday's Gatwick airport sale announcement to France's Vinci has already triggered fevered speculation about what Global Infrastructrure Partners plans to do next.
Indeed, a throwaway paragraph at the end of a piece in The Times speculates about the possibility of GIP selling Edinburgh airport next year. Below is the link:..
Quelle Surprise: Gatwick Airport sold...
Apologies for the lack of posts in the last few days. Betaville has been enjoying a few days of merrymaking and eating chocolate.
Anyway, on arriving back at my desk this morning I was presented with the news that Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and friends have sold some of their shareholdings in Gatwick airport to French firm Vinci for an estimated £2.9 billion...
Former LSE CEO set to be named as CQS boss...- Part 2
Oh look - CQS has now confirmed Betaville's snippet from last night. Below is a report based on the confirmation:
https://www.ft.com/content/63570b46-0518-11e9-9d01-cd4d49afbbe3
It just goes to show old school journalism is alive and well as this scoopette was obtained down the pub after one too many!..
Former LSE CEO set to be named as CQS boss...
It never ceases to amaze little old Betaville how one stumbles across jackanories about bigwigs in the City.
The latest whisper is that CQS, the $17 billion hedge fund run by Tory donor Sir Michael Hintze, is today expected to make a major "corporate announcement".
One can only presume that it's connected to the past reports that Xavier Rolet, former boss of the London Stock Exchange, has been approached about running the mega fund...
UK dealmaking in the doldrums because of Brexit - perhaps not...
Typical!
Betaville was just in the process of liasing with one of the institutional data providers for the deals numbers for this quarter to prove my own theory that the volume of announced public transactions had fallen off cliff for this period compared to previous years when: boom - Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline announce a £10billion merger of their respective consumer healthcare businesses. Below is a link to the news:..
[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].