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.
Congratulations to Graham "Ruddy" Ruddick.
Little old Betaville's old chum and former colleague from our time on The Daily Telegraph's City desk has struck a deal with Richard Harpin to sell his excellent news letter Off to Lunch to Business Leader, a magazine and events company backed by the multi-millionaire founder of HomeServe.
This morning Ruddy writes:..
George Osborne just can't help dropping little investment banking secrets into his new "Political Currency" podcast.
In his latest podcast with Ed Balls, the former Labour front bencher, Osborne refers to how code words such as "Redwood" and "Cedar" are used to disguise super secret takeover deals being worked on at investment banks in the City of London...
Mike Ashley's Frasers Group is back at it.
After a brief pause Frasers Group has increased his stake in London-listed fashion retailer Asos to 19.1pc. Below is the link:
Little old Betaville reads everyday in the newspaper business sections how there has been a drop off in dealmaking but it does seem to quite tally with whats happening on the ground in the London market.
Today, for example, Macquarie - the Australian infrastructure investor - has just announced it wants to buy London-listed waste management company Renewi for 775p a share. Below is a link to the press release:..
Another day, another confirmation for little old Betaville.
In case you missed it this morning Alfa Financial Software Holdings, the London-listed asset finance software company, confirmed little old Betaville's earlier UNCOOKED alert. Below is the link:
https://polaris.brighterir.com/public/alfa_financial_soft/news/json_news/story/x8mmv9w..
Helen Cahill, a hack on the business section of The Times, landed on the front page of the business section with a decent new line on the Elementis story. Below is the link to it:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/investors-back-franklin-mutual-calls-for-elementis-sale-3mzm2z97l..
I see Adevinta has confirmed little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alert about the takeover rumours.
Off course arch rivals at Bloomberg are trying to claim the scoop because the financial media behemoth published its tale last night about Blackstone and Permira's interest a couple of hours before Adevinta released its statement. Below are the relevant links:..
Cisco has just announced a deal to buy Splunk, the US-listed software and cybersecurity company, for $28 billion.
The details are Cisco, who were advised by Tidal Parners, is paying $157 a share in cash for Splunk. Below is a link to the press release:..
George Osborne's new podcast show - Political Currency - has received a lot of media attention but little old Betaville was more interested in another podcast the former Chancellor of the Exchequer was involved with recently.
That podcast was the BBC's media show in which interviewer Katie Razzall asks a punch of pundits about sale of the The Daily Telegraph, which as loyal readers well know used to be little old Betaville's former employer...
Franklin Mutual Advisers has clearly got fed up with the lack of action at London-listed chemicals company Elementis.
The investor, which owns almost 10pc of Elementis, has just come out publicly requesting the company carries out a sale process. Below is a link to the full letter from Franklin Mutual, which is part of US investment giant Franklin Templeton:..
Remember DBay?
Well in case you don't, it was the secretive Isle of Man-based private equity firm that was involved in a year-long tussle to buy Telit Communications, the London-listed 'internet of things' chip maker. (see multiple previous Betaville Intelligence articles for a gentle reminder).
Now, DBay has finally pounced on the Finsbury Food Group, the cake maker, following a period of stakebuilding...
I see Alex Brummer, veteran City hack and business commentator at the Daily Mail, is also jumping onto the BP could be vulnerable to a bid thesis.
And Brummer adds a line into his column about how leaderless BP might now be of interest to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway vehicle. Below is a link to Brummer's column:..
There weren't too many deal stories in the British Sunday newspaper sections this weekend but there was one piece that caught little old Betaville's eye in the Saturday business section of The Times.
Emma Powell, who writes the Tempus column in the The Times, suggested BP, which last week saw its chief executive Bernard Looney step down amid allegations, could now be vulnerable to a takeover bid. Below is a link to her piece:..
Scribblers at Quest aren't satisfied with talking up the prospects of dealmaking in the UK market.
Now Graham Simpson, an analyst at Quest, is casting his eye over Europe, suggesting there could be a flurry of takeovers of undervalued European businesses...
Little old Betaville spotted Baron Hammond of Runnymede on the Victoria Line (a well-known metro line in the London subway system) platform this afternoon.
The Baron - also known as Philip Hammond, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom - jumped on the tube carriage alongside little old Betaville at Oxford Circus around 15:00...
A decent tale from arch rivals Bloomberg has just hit the tape.
Bloomie is reporting activist investor Sachem Head Capital Management has been building a stake in Deliveroo, the London-listed online food delivery firm set up by former Morgan Stanley banker Will Shu...
[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].