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.
Alistair Osborne, one of my former colleagues and bosses from The Daily Telegraph, is clearly refreshed after having some time off.
Indeed, Osborne's column today in The Times is highly entertaining and worthwhile a read, especially the item about Walgreen and Boots.
If you haven't looked at it already, here is a link to Osborne's column:..
I have been hearing some pretty interesting things recently about a German drug developer called Evotec AG.
To be honest, it's not clear to me exactly what is going on with this stock.
Geoff Foster, though, recently suggested that a British pharmaceutical company was lining up a EURO 5 a share offer for the business...
Things are going from bad to worse at Bank of America Merrill Lynch's European investment banking team...
Remember that bizarre statement that Mike Ashley's Sports Direct put out a few weeks ago regarding shoe retailer Office?..
Looking over this morning's coverage of British American Tobacco's recent figures, I see a couple of newspaper reporters tried to tempt Nicandro Durante, CEO of BAT, into spilling the beans about whether the tobacco giant has any plans to consolidate its position in the US...
As chief executives, entrepreneurs and City dealmakers slope off to the Mediterranean for August
(islands off the Italian coast appear to be particularly in vogue at the moment), I am going to look at a few more "off-beat" stories. ..
Quelle surprise - another Bank of America Merrill Lynch bear hug has fallen over.
This year the Wall Street investment bank has advised several companies trying to buy rival businesses using a "bear hug", an aggressive tactic used in M&A to force the the target company to the negotiating table by making an indicative offer public.
It looks like Pepsi's long-only shareholders are really piling the pressure on the company to give Nelson Peltz seats on the consumer giant's board...
I see Apple chip maker Dialog Semiconductor and AMS have called off their SFr4 billion merger...
Now that the £32 billion AbbVie/Shire deal looks to be "done" (or at least for the time being), it's time to look at another potential deal brewing in the sector...
I see there is no mention of Lazard in this morning's $53 billion deal announcement from AbbVie and Shire (for readers unfamiliar with this ongoing tale it might be worthwhile clicking here: http://betaville123.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/whats-missing-from-abbvies-27-billion.html)...
It struck me the other day that amid the recent IPO euphoria there appeared to be fewer foreign companies coming to list on the London market...
I see British American Tobacco has finally put on an announcement effectively confirming my story on the front page of The Times a few months ago...
I bet property consultant WSP is feeling rather relieved that it didn't press ahead with the purchase of Sweett Group at the beginning of the year.
For readers that don't recall, I had a story that WSP - which is owned by Canada-based Genivar Inc - was on the verge of buying Sweett Group in early January but pulled out of the deal around the time the Aim-listed business made this announcement:
..
I wonder whether the market will finally find out whether Lazard has secured a role on the AbbVie/Shire deal?..
My "exclusive" story on the cancellation of the Land Registry privatisation is about to be confirmed, according to newspaper reports...
Sorry for the lack of posts in the last couple of days Betavillers. I have been down in deepest, darkest Kent with little access to the internet...
It appears I might have kicked hornet's nest with this Alliance Boots piece I published a couple of days ago.
Indeed, people close to the situation have been in touch and they weren't best pleased with what I wrote. Here is a link to the original article I published earlier in the week:
http://betaville123.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/something-afoot-with-boots.html..
I have been in two minds about publishing this piece but I have now run into a bit of a brick wall, so I have decided I may as well go with what I know.
Last week a good source hinted to me that there may be something untoward going on with Alliance Boots's debt.
Now, when I thought about this I have to admit it doesn't make a lot sense although clearly I am not in possession of all of the facts...
[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].