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.
Thursday, 11 January 2018, 8:01 pm
The mysterious Chinese investor that has quietly built a 14pc stake in Telit Communications has emerged as one of the largest investors in a listed Chinese corporation that has been consolidating the "internet of things" market.
Last year Run Liang Tai Management built up a substantial shareholding in Aim-listed Telit after the company's founder, Oozi Katz, became embroiled in a scandal about his true identity...
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Wednesday, 10 January 2018, 4:02 pm
It never ceases to amaze Betaville what you can learn over lunch from an old contacts you haven't seen in a while. That's old school journalism for you, I guess. Anyway, onto the actual story:
Lyceum Capital, the private equity firm that owns the well-known sandwhich shop EAT, has stopped fundraising and seen several departures, triggering speculation about the firm's future...
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Wednesday, 10 January 2018, 9:58 am
Regular readers know well that there is nothing more Betaville likes to do than break an M&A scoop.
But from time to time Betaville also likes to read other columns from top journalists and curate their work on this website.
And yesterday one of Betaville's favourite City writers was back on top form for the first time this year...
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Monday, 8 January 2018, 9:02 pm
Saffron Energy, an Aim-listed oil and gas explorer, is in talks with investors to raise up to £20 million to fund a complex three-way merger.
City sources said Saffron, which as part of the deal is changing it’s name to Coro Energy, is in talks to raise between £10 million and £20 million via an equity fundraising, including a possible share placing...
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Saturday, 6 January 2018, 8:11 pm
It took just a few days into the New Year for a rival news organisation to give charming Crispin Odey another shoeing.
This time it was Bloomberg, which dug up his overall performance figures for 2017. According to the newswire, Crispin's flagship Odey European Fund was finished down 20pc in 2017 (see the link below)...
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 4 January 2018, 2:21 pm
Oh look - MySQUAR confirmed yesterday's scoopette about a takeover bid for the company. I have pasted the link below in case you missed it:
https://www.investegate.co.uk/mysquar-limited--mysq-/rns/response-to-recent-market-commentary/201801031516228856A/..
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Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 3 January 2018, 1:25 pm
At least one mystery bidder is circling MySQUAR, the Burmese social media company.
According to Asian banking sources familiar with the situation, MySQUAR recently received a approach from a company interested in acquiring some or all of the business.
However, it's not clear which company is behind the recent approach or what price the offer values Aim-listed MySQUAR...
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Tuesday, 2 January 2018, 6:27 pm
David Cumming isn't wasting any time.
The former Standard Life equities supremo has started his new role as chief investmne officer at Aviva Investors with a bit of a shake up. According to moles at the fund management of the insurance giant, Cumming declared after his first 58 minutes in his new job that the firm can't claim to be "global equity investor" if it is using delayed prices...
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Sunday, 31 December 2017, 3:16 pm
Global Switch announced on Friday after the market closed (it was a half day ahead of the New Year weekend) that Elegant Jubilee had bought another 2pc stake in Global Switch from the billionaire Reuben Brothers...
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersThursday, 28 December 2017, 11:20 pm
Wednesday, 27 December 2017, 1:53 pm
Poor old Crispin. Now, hacks and hackettes at The Times are sticking the boot in with a piece about profits and performance fees have "plunged" at Odey Asset Management following a torrid few years of terrible performance. I have pasted the link to Deidre Hipwell piece in today's business section below:..
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Saturday, 23 December 2017, 9:11 am
This time last week Betaville was all aflutter after the Daily Mail splashed its business section and wrote a comment piece on the possiblity of Comcast making a £19 billion counter offer for FTSE 100-listed broadcaster Sky...
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 21 December 2017, 10:22 pm
WPP held a board meeting last week amid speculation the marketing services giant may be looking at its "strategic options".
According to high-level industry sources, WPP's board members met last week in New York. However, it's not clear why the FTSE 100-listed company's senior exectuives held the board meeting in the US or what the meeting was about, said these industry sources...
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Wednesday, 20 December 2017, 7:44 pm
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersTuesday, 19 December 2017, 2:01 pm
Monday, 18 December 2017, 9:43 pm
Crispin Odey is falling in with the hedgies at Polygon by calling for a higher offer from 21st Century Fox or its new owner - the Walt Disney Company. Ben Martin, a former colleague from my time at The Daily Telegraph and now a reporter at Reuters, managed to get the old buffer to talk about it on the record today. I have pasted Ben's piece below in case you missed it...
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Sunday, 17 December 2017, 12:15 pm
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersFriday, 15 December 2017, 6:39 am
Wednesday, 13 December 2017, 8:05 pm
So farewell Dan Dunkley, The Sunday Times deals reporter who Betaville has had the pleasure of working with at several different publications.
Some of Dan's memorable M&A scoops include revealing: the detail of Mediclinic's bid £1.3 billion bid for Spire Healthcare; Aveva's merger Schneider Electric; and unveiling Li Ka Shing's attempt to buy O2 from Telefonica for £9 billion.
I have pasted the links to Dan's scoops below:..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersTuesday, 12 December 2017, 2:38 pm
[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].