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.
Loyal readers know Betaville always likes a good row story. And the latest this website has encountered is about a dust up over Ellaktor, a Greek construction giant.
On the one side you have two brothers - Anastasios and Dimitris Kallitsantsis, chairman and vice chairman respectively - who have got it in for Leonidas Bobolas and Dimitrios Koutras...
So, Cluff Natural Resources - run by veteran commodities tycoon Algie Cluff - has confirmed yesteday evening's UNCOOKED ALERT about a potential equity fundraising.
I have pasted a link below to the confirmation in case you missed it:
Cluff Natural Resources is said to be looking to raise fresh capital.
The company, run by the 78-year-old commodities tycoon Algy Cluff, is said to be working on a placing, according to sources claiming to be familiar with the matter.
These sources suggested Cluff Natural Resources may be looking to place new shares with investors at between 2p and 2.25p...
The chairman of Telit Commuications has been kicked out of the business amid an acrimonious row with some of the company's shareholders and former directors.
The company's largest sharesholders have voted against the confirmation of Richard Kilsby at Telit's Annual General Meeting today. Below is a link to the RNS:..
The world’s largest private equity firm has put Ideal World on the market after it’s investment in the home shopping television channel turned sour.
People familiar with the matter said US buy-out giant Blackstone has appointed advisers from Deloitte to quickly find a buyer for Ideal Shopping Direct, a home shopping group that sells its products on Sky, Freeview and Virgin Media.
Ideal Shopping Direct’s main channel is Ideal World...
The mysterious Chinese company that has built a sizeable shareholding in Telit Communications has increased its stake in the business, raising speculation it is getting closer to making an offer for some or all of the business.
This morning Run Liang Tai Management disclosed it has increased its stake to 15.2pc from 14pc on the UK's regulatory news service...
It took a while but Zenith Energy finally confirmed Betaville's UNCOOKED ALERT about the company carrying out an equity fund raising.
Below is a link to the RNS:
It has been brought to Betaville's attention that Investment bankers are all over WPP chairman Roberto Quarta, angling for permanent mandate as the company's financial advisor.
And you can see why corporate financiers are aggresively targeting the marketing services group set up by Sir Martin Sorrell in 1985...
Zenith Energy may be looking to raise up to £5 million.
Zenith, which has the largest onshore oilfield in Azerbaijan, is said to be working on an equity fundraising, according to sources claiming to be familiar with the matter.
It's thought the company is looking to raise fresh capital via a placing of new shares with investors at around 4p share, said these sources claiming to be familiar with the matter...
The company behind a guide book for second-hand car dealers is set to sold for £250 million by a secretive private lender.
City sources said Autovista, which owns the well-known Glass’s Guides, has been put on the block by Hayfin, a specialist debt investor.
Glass’s Guides is used by second-hand car dealers to check prices on used cars.
Advisors from American investment bank Houlihan Lokey have been drafted in by Hayfin to find a buyer for Autovista...
Diamondback Energy has emerged as one of the companies circling Energen Corporation, the US oil and gas explorer.
According to sources claiming to be familiar with the matter, Diamondback Energy is working with bankers from Goldman Sachs on a potential offer for Energen, whose main assets are in the Permian Basin of west Texas and New Mexico...
UK Oil & Gas is said to be close to launching its equity fundraising.
According to sources claiming to be familiar with the matter, the company - known as the Gatwick Gusher after it claimed in 2015 to have discovered as much as oil as there is in the North Sea near the London airport - is working on raising funds at around a 10pc discount to the current share price...
It emerged today the billionaire chairman of Hennes & Mauritz has been selling a chunk of his stake in Hexagon, the Swedish measurement technology business.
Local media claim Steffan Persson (via his Ramsbury vehicle) has slotted around 4.2 million Hexagon shares in May, raising around 2 billion Swedish Kronas.
Meanwhile, shares in Hennes & Maurtiz - the beleguered fashion retailer founded by Persson's grandfather - jumped almost 5pc during the session...
Below is a link to a truly brilliant piece of investigative journalism by the Financial Times.
Boston Scientific Corporation, the US medical devices maker, has come under the spotlight amid talk it is attracing takeover interest from a rival.
According to sources claiming to be familiar with the matter, a mystery suitor is said to be circling Boston Scientific.
One source claiming to be familiar with the matter suggested Boston Scientific may have already received a takeover proposal from a suitor...
PEI Media - publisher of one of the journals read by many of the City's bankers, lawyers and buy-out barons - is about to be bought by Bridgepoint Development Capital for over £120 million.
According to sources familiar with the matter, a takeover of PEI Media by BDC could be announced in the next few days.
This would be the second (possibly third time) Betaville has broken a story about PEI Media since this website first started in 2014...
[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].