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 was invited back onto Tip TV this morning to talk about deals, potential upcoming deals and general backslapping for predicting Pfizer would come back for AstraZeneca.
Here is a link to today's show: http://www.tiptv.co.uk/archives/tip-tv-highlight-ben-harrington-01-05-2014/..
Here's an interesting snippet I recently picked up about Weir Group's attempt to "merge" with Finnish company Metso.
Good sources have told me the maximum price Weir Group is willing to pay for Metso is EURO 28 a share.
When Weir Group revealed the details of its £8.5 billion all-share takeover proposal earlier this month the FTSE 100 company said it had offered 0.8400 shares for every Metso share, which back then worked out at EURO 25.70 a share...
Wow - today's news about Pfizer formally launching its $100 billion takeover bid for AstraZeneca has sent the pharmacuetical sector rumour mill into overdrive...
Loyal Betaville readers might be pleased to hear my celebrity status is increasing as I was asked back onto to Tip TV today...
Loyal Betaville readers may recall that a few weeks ago I published a post about FTSE 250 pub companies Mitchells & Butlers and Greene King...
Here's an interesting tale about one of Britain's oldest retailers...
Huge hat tip to Ben Marlow, the M&A reporter over at The Sunday Times. ..
I see Finnish engineering company Metso has today rejected Weir Group's £8.5 billion all-share merger proposal. Not much of a surprise there following last week's shenanigans on Betaville...
An Australian investment group that manages pensions for the New South Wales police force has secretly purchased a multi-million pound stake in Yorkshire Water, one of Britain's largest water companies...
There is a bit of a buzz in European markets about a US company called Wellcare Health Plans Inc and I think I know why...
Good news - Tip TV asked me back onto the show today to talk about M&A. ..
A couple of US academics have just published some research on Merger & Acquisition (M&A) reporting (a subject close to my heart) in the US.
They have come up with some interesting theories on how to tell whether M&A stories will come "true".
I'm not sure I would agree with everything these academics espouse but they make a couple of valid points nonetheless.
Click on the link below to read the original article:..
Being a rather self-deprecating chap (I'm half English, after all) I tend to avoid shameless self promotion. But on this occasion, I can't resist...
Good news - I have become a TV celebrity...
In discreet Mayfair hotel bars men in dark glasses are talking about Remy Cointreau. But it's not because they like drinking expensive Cognac...
Sweett Group shares have taken a hammering this morning, tumbling by almost 30pc.
This is because the company, one of Britain's oldest quantity surveyors, said it has discovered evidence that suggests "material instances of deception may have been perpetrated by a former employee or employees of the group during the period of 2009 - 2011".
As a result, Sweett Group has commissioned a further independent investigation by lawyers from Mayer Brown LLP...
Gary Parkinson take a bow...
Great scoop from Ben Marlow over the weekend about House of Fraser...
[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].