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.
Mike Ashley's Frasers Group has just topped its stake in Asos, the London-listed online fashion retailer.
Frasers Group this afternoon disclosed it now owns 23pc of Asos. Below is the link to the announcement:
The old Kleinmanator has managed to edge out little old Betaville by getting to the bottom of the The Restaurant Group counterbid tale.
Kleiny, also known as Mark Kleinman of Sky News, has just revealed that the owners of Pizza Express, who include Bain Capital Credit and Cyrus Capital Partners, are weighing up whether to make a counter offer for The Restaurant Group after it recommended a £500 million takeover from Apollo, the US private equity firm...
Another day, another string of takeover deals.
This morning London-listed ScS announced it had recommended a £100 million offer from Italian furniture maker Poltronesofà. The 280p (including the dividend) a share cash offer from Poltronesofà is at a 67pc premium! Below is the link to the press release:..
It's merger Monday again in the US market, with a fresh set of multi-billion dollar takeover deals announced this morning.
1. Chevron has agreed to buy independent US-listed oil producer Hess Corporation for $53 billion in an all stock takeover. Below is the link:..
Tucked away in The Sunday Times Prufrock column was an item that caught little old Betaville's eye.
The diary piece suggests Marc Boyan, a media entrepreneur that recently bought a stake in Charlton Atheltic football club, is interested in buying The Daily Telegraph. ..
Former FT hack Izabella Kaminska was kind enough to invite little old Betaville back onto her Blind Spot Markets Live show yesterday morning.
It was a bit of gloomy day in the wider market but there were quite a few things to talk about, including a few UNCOOKED rumours. Below is a link to yesterday's transcript in case you missed it:..
Bloomberg have leapt onto the Jazz Pharmaceuticals takeover tale.
According to Bloomie, US-listed Jazz is talking to investment banking advisers to figure out whether there is any interest in buying some or all of the business. Below is a link to the Bloomie piece:..
Today's deals include CoStar Group's £99 million purchase of London-listed property website OnTheMarket.
The Nasdaq-listed company is paying 110p a share for OnTheMarket, which is at a premium of 56pc. Below is the link to the press release:
https://www.londonstockexchange.com/news-article/market-news/offer-for-onthemarket-plc/16173247..
Companies and private equity firms are still trying to do deals.
The latest potential takeover to hit the the tape is CVC Capital's interest in buying Nexi SpA. Arch rivals at Bloomberg reported overnight that the private equity house is in the early stages of weighing a takeover bid for the Italian payments giant. Below is a link to that piece:..
Arch rivals at Bloomberg have finally followed up little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alert about the rumours surrounding Continental AG, the German car pars manufacturing giant.
Late yesterday Bloomberg reported that Continental AG is studying the sale of automotive assets including its autonomous mobility business. Below is a link to the Bloomberg piece:..
So, Mike Ashley's Frasers Group has upped its stake further in online retailer Asos to 22.8pc whilst also increasing the shareholding in rival digital fashion firm Boohoo to 15.1pc.
The dual stakebuilding does raise questions about whether Ashley, a well-known gambler, is ultimately plotting a bid for both companies.
Little old Betaville, though, assumes one of these stakebuildings could be a head fake.....
Private equity house Apollo has just announced the £506 million takeover of The Restaurant Group, the operator of well known restaurants chains such as Wagamama, and Frankie and Benny's.
The board of The Restaurant Group has recommended a 65p a share in cash offer from Apollo. Below is a link to the press release:..
Exxon Mobil has just formally announced the $60 billion all stock takeover of Pioneer Natural Resources.
So, take a bow hacks at the Wall Street Journal. They may be rivals but they nailed the Exxon Mobil - Pioneer Natural Resources takeover scoop not once but twice. Below is the link to the final announcement:
Below is the link to the press release:..
I must apologise - it would appear little old Betaville completely missed the fact that The Guardian also followed up last week's UNCOOKED Alert and were kind enough to give this website a mention.
Moreover, The Guardian seems to have spoken to its own proprietary sources and dug out an interesting line, which I have pasted below:
"A City source told the Guardian there had been some discussions with suitors."..
The echo chamber went into overdrive last week, with both the Daily Mail and The Times following up little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alerts about Aviva.
In case you missed them, below are the links to those reports and little old Betaville's original alert:
https://www.betaville.co.uk/betaville-intelligence/56h57bbz/..
Last week George Osborne revealed in his Political Currency podcast with Ed Balls the way super secret takeover deals are disguised with "code words", such as Project "Cedar" and Project "Redwood"
So, it was interesting to read in today's front page news reports about the Metro Bank recapitalisation plan that there were lines about how Robey Warshaw, the M&A advisory boutique, is advising Santander on its interest buying the beleguered London-listed bank...
[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].