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.
Wednesday, 11 January 2017, 9:48 am
Last year little old Betaville received its first threatening legal letter from a top City law firm, so I know what it's like to face a bully trying to suppress a good tale.
In fact, as a staff business journalist at The Daily Telegraph during the mid-noughties I received numerous legal warning letters and also one threat to injuct the whole newspaper (a potential disaster for a national publication)...
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Monday, 9 January 2017, 6:39 pm
Britain's richest brothers, the Reuben Brothers, have held talks about backing Emerald Investment Partners' potential bid for pub operator Punch Taverns.
According to well-placed sources, Emerald has approached the billionaire Reuben Brothers about providing financial backing for its £400 million plus bid for Punch...
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Monday, 9 January 2017, 2:39 pm
There have been a couple of major US biotech deal announcements today, which should cheer a few market watchers up on what on this wet, strike-ridden Monday...
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Friday, 6 January 2017, 3:00 pm
One of Britain's largest specialist furniture retailers could be about to sell a stake in the company as part of a deal that would value the business at around £400 million.
Betaville understands Oak Furniture Land has appointed advisers from PricewaterhouseCoopers to carry out a "strategic review", which may lead to a sale of a minority or majority stake in the business...
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Friday, 6 January 2017, 12:54 pm
In case you missed it - I did because City AM isn't distributed where I live - here is a link to the Kleinmanator's New Year prediction column, in which he writes he expects AstraZeneca will be bid for again by numerous international parties...
http://www.cityam.com/256491/-big-year-but-wont-trump-2016s-shocks
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Thursday, 5 January 2017, 12:47 pm
The billionaire Reuben Brothers could be about to make another multi-million pound cash windfall from the sale of one of their businesses.
City sources the brothers are considering a sale of Metro International Trade Services, a metal warehousing company, after receiving approaches from potential buyers. I understand one of the purchasers is a mystery Chinese company...
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Thursday, 5 January 2017, 10:06 am
Uber bankers Sir Simon Robey and Simon Warshaw were being feted in the British business press today after the boutique advisory firm released its accounts for last year showing their little outfit made £37 million in profits...
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Tuesday, 3 January 2017, 8:59 pm
Here is something to liven up a cold January evening. Tucked away at the back of an FT analysis on dealmaking in the insurance industry is a rather intriguing line about how "rumours circulated through last year that two of the big European insurers - Axa and Generali - would try to get together".
That's the first time I have heard of that rumour for a while but perhaps Oliver Ralph, the insurance industry hack at the Financial Times, is/was more plugged in than me...
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Saturday, 31 December 2016, 4:50 pm
Now, there is a very good reason I posited a question in the headline. It's because I DON'T KNOW whether the well-known fashion brand and retailer Michael Kors will actually merge or sell itself.
However, here is what I do know: I have spent the best part of a couple months investigating a variety of takeover rumours about Michael Kors. Below is what I have have up with so far.....
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Saturday, 31 December 2016, 1:48 pm
It looks like I was barking up the right tree when I re-introduced my "top of the market?" series late last week.
Today, the The Times splashed its business section with a piece about how City analysts fear a major stockmarket sell off in 2017.
In case your interested, I have pasted a link below to the piece, which was written by my former colleague Katherine Griffiths, one of the hardest working hacks I had the pleasure to work with:..
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Friday, 30 December 2016, 10:52 am
It's that time of the year where the data providers go into a a bit of PR frenzy to convince M&A hacks to write stories to use their data for end-of-year round up pieces. It's also that time of the year when M&A hacks unlucky enough to find themselves still in the newsroom are scratching about for a half decent story idea after their boss has yelled at them for copy to fill large, blank spaces on their pages...
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Thursday, 29 December 2016, 9:51 am
Apologies for the lack of posts Betavillers - I have a had a few (deserved?) days off enjoying the holidays.
Fear not, though, I'm now back in full force. Yes, while many of little old Betaville's competitors continue their merrymaking I'm back at my desk looking to break big stories, provide thoughtful insight and also crack a few jokes...
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Thursday, 22 December 2016, 6:52 pm
Royal Bank of Scotland might have been hit with bunch of fresh legal claims (see my post from earlier in the week) but yesterday the beleugered bank won its long-running legal tussle with Manchester-based developer Property Alliance Group.
In fact, it really was a comprehensive win for taxpayer-owned RBS, with the bank winning all counts in the UK's first judgement in a civil Libor-related claim...
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Thursday, 22 December 2016, 10:26 am
There is more evidence in the The Times and the Financial Times this morning that my piece - https://www.www.betaville.co.uk/news/chinese-still-circling/ - from earlier this week was/is bang on the money...
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Wednesday, 21 December 2016, 10:44 pm
I'm sure I will be on the receiving end of a load of unpleasant abuse from various trolls after this little update but I think loyal and sensible readers deserve a follow up piece since my original RARE ALERT about Walt Disney rekindling its interest in buying Twitter. Here is a link to that piece published in October:..
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Wednesday, 21 December 2016, 10:30 am
The venerable Financial Times has just published this rather good read about how Japanese companies will be back on the prowl for businesses in Blighty in 2017...
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Tuesday, 20 December 2016, 9:10 pm
2016 wasn't great for Royal Bank of Scotland. The embattled bank, led by Ross McEwan, not only saw its shares tumble over 20pc since the beginning of the year but also its protracted legal battles rumble on...
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Monday, 19 December 2016, 5:19 pm
This year has thrown up plenty of surprises. Politics aside, it's the global M&A boom led by Chinese buyers that was quite unexpected. There had always been plenty of banker talk about China-backed bids of western companies but I don't think many commentators would have predicted this year's huge surge in dealmaking by Chinese businesses...
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Friday, 16 December 2016, 11:59 pm
It would appear GVC, the owner of Sportingbet, wasn't the only online gaming outfit chatting to Ladbrokes Coral about a multi-billion pound merger deal.
Good sources have told little old Betaville that Paddy Power Betfair has also been talking to Ladbrokes Coral about a takeover...
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Thursday, 15 December 2016, 7:02 pm
Little old Betaville has been taking a bit of stick on Twitter recently for the story on Fingerprint Cards published a couple of months ago. So, I thought I would pen a note to clarify a few things for readers who seem to be obsessed by this Nordic biometric technology company...
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[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].