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.
I note Bloomberg earlier this week published a tale about Mediclinic taking a look at Amana Healthcare, a private medical-care provider in the United Arab Emirates. According to the newswire service, Amana has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to explore a sale that may value the company at $400 million...
I see my former employer, The Daily Telegraph, has picked up on a theme little old Betaville has been writing about for the last month or so. Today, the venerable newspaper splashed the main book on a campaigning piece - dubbed 'Stamp duty' - advocating major changes to the tax (for readers outside of the UK you have to pay stamp duty when you purchase a property). Here is a link to the The Daily Telegraph's splash story:..
It's a Monday and Zak was in the mood to talk about politics. I tried, though, to keep it corporate. Here is a link to today's session:
Little old Betaville has been running now for a couple of years and has developed a bit of a following in the City. And some readers are now even offering to write pieces for little old Betaville.
So, as a bit of an experiment, below is a contribution from a certain “Mr Shears”. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
A contribution from Mr Shears:
There’s many a slip twixt cup and lip, as my old boss used to say...
Reuters landed a good story earlier this week about a US biopharmaceutical company called Merrimack Pharmaceuticals carrying out a "strategic review" (banker parlance for a sale or sale of assets). Here is a link to the Reuters piece:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-merrimack-pharma-m-a-idUSKBN1342QZ..
I realise Trump is the only major news story in town at the moment but here's a little tale for the mid-market dealmaking village back in Blighty.
Word is private equity firm ECI is closing in on a £100 million sale of upmarket caterer Rhubarb, which has contracts with the Royal Albert Hall and Goodwood Estate...
Little old Betaville was greeted with rather pleasant news this evening after he returned from a session in the pub with a few ex-Telegraph chums.
One of little old Betaville's American scoopettes was effectively confirmed after the US market closed yesterday...
I see Bpost has finally submitted a formal offer for Post NL, essentially confirming the tale I mentioned on Tip TV a few weeks ago.
Here is a link to that Tip TV session - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp6YxOLwrb8#sthash.avKgWIXv.dpuf..
It's a Monday, so here is a link to today's Tip TV session with the eloquent Mr Mir.
One of Britain’s largest chain of vets could be about to change hands for around £350 million.
[insert picture of a cuddly dog or cat here]
City sources said Summit Partners, the US-based private equity owner of Independent Vetcare (IVC), has been talking to corporate finance types about a sale of the business...
Several London-based Betavillers were rather interested in my RARE alert a few weeks ago about HM Treasury's potential changes to stamp duty.
Why?..
And here is the confirmation from Bpost:
Press release, 02/11/2016..
Lowland hacks over at Het Financieele Dagblad and De Tijd and have just landed cracking tales about Bpost preparing a fresh EURO 2 billion plus takeover bid for Post NL. Below is the link to their jackanories:
Here is a link to today's Tip TV session with the mischevious Zak Mir.
The £12 billion auction for National Grid's distribution business is hotting up and top M&A reporters are breaking stories left, right and centre.
Last week, for example, the Kleinmanator of Sky News published a good scoopette about how Hermes had joined a consortium of investors led by CIC, the Chinese state's sovereign wealth fund. Here is a link to Mark's piece:..
Remember Equities First Holdings?..
Some rather juicy RARE has landed in my lap.
It's a pretty simple tale: Walt Disney Co is said to be closing in on a multi-billion dollar takeover of micro blogging site Twitter after both companies agreed on a takeout price late last week...
I thought I might clarify a few things following a misrepresentation of my Coach / Burberry story by the "echo chamber"...
If your interested in my thoughts on last week's Burberry tale and this weekend's stories do click on the link below:
US retailer Coach is working with corporate financiers on a potential combination with Burberry to create a $20 billion luxury clothing giant, according to two sources familiar with the situation.
Coach has been talking to financial advisers from Evercore for several weeks about the potential deal, according to two sources familiar with the situation...
[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].
