A cheeky website about deals, dealmakers and anything else I find interesting. Edited by Ben Harrington. If you have a tip or want to discuss a story please feel free to email Betaville at ben@betaville.co.uk. 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.
Wednesday, 5 December 2018, 12:22 pm
Brexit shenanigans are certainly clogging up the City's dealmaking arteries in Britain but there is one sector that is still seeing a lot of activity - publishing, trade shows and exhibitions.
There have been quite a few deals in the space since the beginning of the year - i.e. Informa's £9 billion merger with UBM - and Betaville hears there are likely to be a few more...
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Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 3 December 2018, 8:22 pm
Oh look - I see maverick Mike Ashley has just told Kingy over at Sky News that talks about a sale of Newcastle United are now "at a more progressed stage than they have ever been". Below is a link:
https://news.sky.com/story/mike-ashley-eyes-imminent-sale-of-newcastle-utd-11571007..
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Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 3 December 2018, 6:14 pm
There hasn't been much of a market reaction to Dealreporter's latest twist on the Acadia Healthcare buy-out.
The news/intelligence agency, which a long time ago Betaville worked for prior to my days at The Daily Telegraph, claimed over the weekend that KKR is still in talks with Acadia Healthcare despite reports to the contrary...
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Friday, 30 November 2018, 11:45 pm
So, the party season has begun. This week Betaville was lucky enough to attend one of the best business parties of year - and it was packed with some of the City's top grandees.
Everybody seemed in a jovial mood, especially as the booze was flowing. But once the conversation turned to the dreaded Brexit the chat soured...
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 29 November 2018, 6:25 pm
Here is a little update for readers interested in last week's tale about the American REITs interested in Barchester Healthcare, the care home giant.
Sources following the situation said it's unlikely the likes of Welltower Inc and Ventas will look to buy Barchester outright as they are primarily interested in the company's property portfolio...
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Wednesday, 28 November 2018, 8:45 am
David Wighton, City Editor at Financial News, landed a great scoop on Monday about Macquarie trying to buy Liberum, one of the City of London's mid tier stockbrokers. Below is a the link:
https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/macquarie-in-talks-to-buy-liberum-20181126..
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Monday, 26 November 2018, 9:54 pm
The owner of Aston Lark is preparing to appoint advisers to work on a sale of one of Britain's largest independent insurance brokers.
City sources said Bowmark Capital, the private equity firm that owns Aston Lark, has been quietly carrying out a beauty parade of investment bankers with a view to appointing a firm to run a sale of the business in early 2019.
Industry sources said they thought Aston Lark could be sold for between £300 million and £350 million...
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Betaville IntelligenceFriday, 23 November 2018, 10:29 pm
The Irish punters that invested in care home giant Barchester Healthcare could be about make another from the fortune from the care home company.
Betaville understands that several large American companies, including listed real estate investment trust Welltower Inc, have shown an interest in the business, whose owners have appointed JP Morgan to find a buyer...
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Thursday, 22 November 2018, 9:21 pm
Li Ka-shing has purchased some of Britain's largest businesses but buying the embattled Earls Court development from Capital & Counties might not be as straight forward as the tycoon expected...
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersWednesday, 21 November 2018, 2:20 pm
Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersTuesday, 20 November 2018, 9:04 pm
Betaville IntelligenceTuesday, 20 November 2018, 9:19 am
Oh look - I see London-listed medical devices company BTG has finally come out and unveiled a £3.3 billion takeover bid from US predator Boston Scientific Group.
Subscribers to Betaville Intelligence won't be too surprised about today's announcement as this news service was the first to flag BTG was in play in the middle July. Below is a link to the piece:..
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Monday, 19 November 2018, 9:03 pm
Sir Simon Robey and Simon Warshaw - the uber bankers and founders of London-based M&A advisory firm Robey Warshaw - have taken a pay cut, according to Financial News.
In the 12 months to March 18, revenues the firm fell 60pc but the highest paid employee (presumably either Sir Simon or Mr Warshaw) still received £12.1 million, so cry me a river. Below is a link to the Financial News piece:..
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Friday, 16 November 2018, 7:20 pm
So, after a hiatus of several months Stefan Persson, the chairman of Hennes & Maurtiz, was today adding to this year's mammoth share purchase.
The Swedish billionaire squire - who owns vaste swathes of Britain's West Country - has this year spent almost $1 billion on buying shares in the company his father founded 71 years ago but today he added another 5.46 million shares to his shareholding, according to Bloomberg...
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Thursday, 15 November 2018, 9:45 am
The answer is: a corporate broker (an English concept whereby a company retains an investment bank to be its "interface" with the stock market).
Yes, Betaville learned last night whilst out a top quality party packed with City grandees (such as Lord Myners, former chairman of Marks & Spencer), investment bankers and chief executives that Shore Capital had displaced Citigroup as corporate broker to Marks & Spencer...
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Betaville IntelligenceTuesday, 13 November 2018, 9:26 pm
This is a story that's been going backwards and forwards for the last couple of years. And no, Betaville isn't referring to the dreaded Brexit. It's the potential sale of Newcastle United Football Club by its billionaire owner Mike Ashley...
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Monday, 12 November 2018, 11:14 am
Everybody in the City of London likes a good lunch. So, the Square Mile's hordes of bankers, lawyers and hedge fund managers might be intrigued to learn that the owner of restaurant guide Square Mile is about to change hands for an estimated £40 million...
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Friday, 9 November 2018, 6:40 pm
Betaville notes Mark Kleinman of Sky News earlier today revealed that BT Group has hired Lazard to sell its fleet management operations (also known as a bunch of vans) for £200 million.
Knowing Kleinman a bit from working together at The Daily Telegraph I'm sure the tale is accurate...
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersThursday, 8 November 2018, 10:16 pm
Wednesday, 7 November 2018, 8:47 am
Harry Wilson, City Editor of The Times, dug out a cracking scoop yesterday (or most likely the day before but it only appeared in print in yesterday's edition).
The intrepid hack discovered that Aaron Banks - the insurance "tycoon" and under fire funder of the Leave.EU campaign - had asked Oakwell Capital to find a buyer for his 29.1pc stake in Manx Financial Group, the Isle of Man's largest lender. Below is a link to Harry's piece:..
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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].