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.
Thursday, 4 April 2024, 2:55 pm
Rivals at Reuters have landed a bit of mega scoop that little old Betaville also happened to be chasing down.
The news agency has just revealed that Alphabet, the US technology giant that owns Google, is in talks with advisers about buying HubsSpot, the US-listed American developer and marketer of software products for marketing, sales, and customer service. Below is a link to the story: ..
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 4 April 2024, 1:56 pm
NAHL Group, the London-listed consumer legal services company, has come under the spotlight amid talk it may be weighing a sale of part of the company for significantly more than the company's current market market capitalisation of the business.
People following the situation have heard rumours NAHL, which is due to unveil trading figures soon, may be looking to dispose of its critical care business to a private equity firm...
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 4 April 2024, 7:56 am
There was plenty of follow up to little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alert about FTSE 250-listed Renishaw in today's British national newspapers.
One piece that struck the right tone was written by John Abiona in the Daily Mail. It carried the headline: Renishaw 'still a target' in Footsie feeding frenzie. Below is a link to the whole article in case you missed it:..
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Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 3 April 2024, 8:53 am
German industrial giant Siemens released a rather curious statement late yesterday afternoon in response to little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alert about FTSE 250-listed engineering firm Renishaw.
Siemens said it: "confirms that it does not intend to make an offer for Renishaw" but then reserved the right to make an offer if it reaches an agreement or recommendation of the Renishaw board directors etc etc etc. Below is a link to the statement:..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersTuesday, 2 April 2024, 3:09 pm
Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 28 March 2024, 3:57 pm
Company presentations aren't usually little old Betaville's thing but sometimes you can still find the odd useful nugget in these documents.
Take, for example, a presentation from Moonlake Immunotherapeutics, the US-listed biopharmaceutical company, from March 10. Below is the link:
https://ir.moonlaketx.com/static-files/cb718204-6ca2-4b46-bdf6-4e964e45a860..
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Wednesday, 27 March 2024, 8:24 pm
The old Mark "The Kleinmanator" Kleinman is on a hot streak at the moment.
The Sky News City editor has just popped with another deal scoop.
This time Kleiny, a former colleague during our time on The Sunday Telegraph and The Daily Telegraph, has revealed that US-listed firm Keysight Technologies is preparing to launch a 200p a share counter offer for Spirent Communications...
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Tuesday, 26 March 2024, 6:58 pm
Little old Betaville is in another grump.
Why?
Well, I was chasing down the takeover rumours circulating about Shockwave, the US-listed medical device company, and just as I was about to publish an alert rivals at the Wall Street Journal pumped out their scoop about Johnson & Johnson's bid for the company. Below is a link to WSJ's scoop:..
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Betaville IntelligenceTuesday, 26 March 2024, 5:16 pm
Mark "The Kleinmanator" Kleinman of Sky News has just popped up with a cracking new line on the DS Smith takeover talks.
According to the Kleinmanator, International Paper is considering launching a £5 billion counter offer for DS Smith.
The move comes amid UK-listed Mondi's talks to purchase DS Smith, first revealed by little old Betaville, to buy its rival for around 373p a share to create a £10 billion packaging giant...
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Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 25 March 2024, 8:51 pm
So, it would appear Barron's (owned by the The Wall Street Journal) has attempted to follow little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alert about the Interpublic Group of Companies.
It's a bit of a strange article. Initially, the Barron's story attempts to pour cold water on little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alert but at the same time argues little old Betaville might be barking up the right tree. Talk about sitting on the fence!..
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Friday, 22 March 2024, 10:10 am
Shares in S4 Capital have rallied this morning almost 20pc after hacks at The Wall Street Journal came up with an intriguing tale about takeover interest the digital advertising group set up by Sir Martin Sorrell, one of Britain's most successful admen and founder of WPP...
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Friday, 22 March 2024, 7:42 am
Portoguese firm The Navigator Company has this morning announced a deal to purchase Accrol for just under £128 million.
Accrol's board has recommended an offer of 38p a share from Navigator, which is listed on the Lisbon stock exchange. Below is a link to the deal:
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/0KLO/recommended-cash-offer/16390123..
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Thursday, 21 March 2024, 3:40 pm
US-listed insurance group Global Life has taken a bit of kicking in recent weeks.
Earlier this month a report in Business Insider suggested the US Department of Justice launched an investigation into Global Life and its subsidiary American Income Life. Below is a link to that piece:..
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Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 20 March 2024, 10:21 pm
Loyal readers might recall that little old Betaville smoked out takeover interest in London-listed payments company Equals Group from US private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners late last year when this website published an UNCOOKED Alert about the bid speculation surrounding the company.
Below is a link to Betaville's original UNCOOKED Alert in case you don't recall:..
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Tuesday, 19 March 2024, 9:50 am
Another week, another takeover deal from AstraZeneca.
Last week AstraZeneca bought Amolyt Pharma for over $1 billion and today the FTSE 100-listed giant is paying over $2 billion for Fusion Pharmaceutical, a US-listed biopharmaceutical company...
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Friday, 15 March 2024, 7:23 am
Hat tip to Amy-Jo Crowley.
The intrepid Reuters hacks dug out a decent deal scoop yesterday that little old Betaville happened to be chasing down, too.
According to Crowley's report, private equity house Permira is looking at taking private the French cyber security company Exclusive Networks after approaches from rivals about a deal. Below is a link to Amy-Jo's whole report:..
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Friday, 15 March 2024, 7:02 am
Reports emerged overnight in the Financial Times and Bloomberg that Redbird IMI may now be looking to offload The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator after British parliamentarians moved to block the sale of the titles to the Redbird IMI investment vehicle backed by the United Arab Emirates. Below is a link to the FT piece:..
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Thursday, 14 March 2024, 10:03 am
Oliver "Shahsy" Shah has gone big today in his React News column by calling for an £8 billion merger of British Land and Land Securities. Below is a link to the piece by The Sunday Times hack:
https://reactnews.com/article/shah-on-property-why-the-time-may-have-finally-come-for-british-landsec/..
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Thursday, 14 March 2024, 7:19 am
There has been talk that perhaps dealmaking in the biopharmaceutical industry was waning following the the string of deal announcements in December 2023.
However, AstraZeneca has just put paid to that theory by announcing another takeover deal. This time the FTSE 100-listed company has agreed to purchase Amolyt Pharma, a France-based company focused on developing novel treatments for rare endocrine diseases...
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Monday, 11 March 2024, 3:36 pm
Bears have once again sunk their teeth into Eurofins Scientific, the Luxembourg-based French testing company.
Word reaches little old Betaville that Shadowfall - the activist short selling firm led by Mathew Earl, dubbed by some as the "dark destroyer" - published another note a couple of weeks ago about Eurofins containing some allegations...
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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].