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.
The Alex cartoon strip in the The Daily Telegraph was once again highly amusing. Here is a link:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/alex/?cartoon=11385507&cc=11383320
Indeed, I can't help but wonder whether Mark Carney might go through a whole term as Governor of the Bank of England without ever overseeing a major change in UK interest rates.....
Quindell's share price has taken a pasting today, with the stock closing down 16pc to finish at around 70p...
Wow - the Qataris really have got an affinity for old Blighty!
Qatar Airways has just said it has bought a 9.9pc stake in our very own British Airways, also known as IAG.
The move comes after it emerged this week the Qatari sovereign wealth fund looks to have secured Canary Wharf owner Songbird Estates for £2.6 billion.
Here is a link to the Qatar Airways announcement:..
So, I think I said earlier in the week the Quindell takeover situation was likely to liven up. Well, it has livened up...
I just thought I would clarify a few things on the Quindell takeover situation following last week's shenanigans on Betaville...
It's a Monday, so I was invited back onto Tip TV to talk about the weekend's deal stories and other bits and pieces.
Here is a link to today's clip: http://www.tiptv.co.uk/archives/talk-on-phillip-greens-plans-iag-and-quindell/..
Huge hat tip to Oliver Shah over at The Sunday Times for his scoop about Sir Philip Green putting BHS on the market. Here is a link to Oliver's piece:..
Sorry this is a bit late in the day but I just thought I would put up Slater & Gordon's slightly odd confirmation to my story from a couple of days ago about how the Aussie group is in talks to buy Quindell's legal services division.
Here is a link to Slater & Gordon's statement:
http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20150123/pdf/42w4d87sk12pfl.pdf..
Graham Ruddick has written a particularly good viewpoint piece in this morning's Telegraph.
Graham - a jolly nice chap, a former colleague and one of the best young hacks I have ever worked with - attempts to unravel what maverick Mike Ashley is up to by shuffling his shareholdings about in Sports Direct.
Here is a link a link to Graham's piece, which is well worth a read:..
Oh look - I see Quindell has just confirmed my story from last night. I have pasted the company's announcement below:..
So, here are some of the (eye-popping) numbers being talked about for Slater & Gordon's purchase of Quindell's legal services division.
To start with, when talks first began I am told by sources that Slater & Gordon said it will pay a non-refundable £15 million to enter into exclusive discussions with Quindell.
Since then, the Australian law firm has been crawling over of Quindell's legal services (QLS) business, doing due diligence...
Here is a juicy jackanory - top sources inform me that listed Australian law firm Slater & Gordon is in exclusive discussions to buy Quindell's legal services division.
I understand Slater & Gordon, one of the first law firms to go public, has been working with advisers from Greenhill on the purchase of QLS.
Codex, an advisory boutique, is one of the firms working for Quindell's board, according to my sources...
I see Reuters is reporting US pharmaceutical company Salix has hired bankers from Centreview Partners to look at strategic options. Here is a link:..
It appears Chinese property giant Dalian Wanda has put its plans to purchase a Premier League football club on hold...
Moose (Nick Batsford) invited me back onto Tip TV this morning and let me ramble almost uninterrupted for 10 minutes. Here is a clip of today's monologue on M&A by me: ..
ZhenHua Oil. That is the name of the "mystery" Chinese company I referred to in yesterday's blog post, according to my reliable sources...
Wow - embattled oil explorer Afren has leapt 33pc to close at 28.7p!..
If you are following the Quindell saga, I picked up another interesting titbit on the insurance claims group yesterday that I thought I might share with loyal readers...
Here is an interesting snippet on XL Group's £2.7 billion takeover of Lloyd's of London insurer Catlin...
Bloomberg is really boosting its coverage of the Aer Lingus takeover situation. The newswire has just pumped out another article:
[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].