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.
Friday, 7 July 2017, 8:30 pm
The auction for WebMD, the US financial health publisher, is said to be entering the final stages and a deal may be announced soon.
Sources claiming to be familiar with the matter said the preferred bidder for the business could be made public in the next few weeks.
Dealreporter previously reported in March that WebMD had hired bankers from JP Morgan to run a strategic review, with the company seeking an offer 20pc higher than its valuation...
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Friday, 7 July 2017, 1:04 pm
I realise this isn't exactly mega cap dealmaking but it's good to see another one of little old Betaville's scoopette's confirmed this morning. I have pasted the link below in case your interested:
https://www.investegate.co.uk/primorus-investments--prim-/rns/issue-of-equity/201707071020494496K/..
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Thursday, 6 July 2017, 12:33 pm
Here is an interesting snippet about a listed tiddler that has an investment in Horse Hill, the oil exploration site just a few miles away from Gatwick Airport just outside London.
Little old Betaville has been told by savvy types that Primorus Investments, which has a 10pc stake in Horse Hill alongside UK Oil and Gas, has been tapping up investors for an extra £500,000.
Apparently, the equity fundraising is almost done and priced at around 0.15 a share...
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Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 5 July 2017, 6:21 am
The mystery company circling Aveva is said to be weighing a deal that could value the London-listed business at as much as £24.50 a share.
Several different sources claiming to be familiar with the matter have heard the potential offeror for Aveva, the software engineering company, is looking at pitching an indicative approach at precisely £24.50 a share...
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Tuesday, 4 July 2017, 8:08 pm
Take a huge bow Zak Mir.
The erudite Mir, now editor and co-founder of financial website Wall Street Wires, has just landed two gigantic M&A scoops in the space of 48 (trading) hours.
Last Friday morning Zak broke the rumour of a potential bid interest in Danish payment company Nets, which was subsequently confirmed by the company on Saturday evening. ..
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Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 3 July 2017, 4:25 pm
Another day, another confirmation for a Betaville Intelligence story.
Today, it emerged private equity backed Red Ventures is buying Bankrate, the US personal finance website, for around $1.3 billion.
In case you missed it, here is a link to last week's Betaville Intelligence piece on Bankrate:
https://www.betaville.co.uk/exclusive/..
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Sunday, 2 July 2017, 12:59 pm
And today Ben Martin of The Sunday Telegraph writes Northgate's largest shareholders are piling pressure on the company to hold a formal sale process.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/07/01/northgate-investors-push-800m-sale-profits-dip/
That's more wishful thinking from Richard Bernstein, I suspect.....
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Friday, 30 June 2017, 5:56 pm
I see wily Richard Bernstein was in the market this week talking up the prospects of a bid for van hire company Northgate, in which his Crystal Amber fund owns just over 4pc.
In a Bloomberg interview Bernstein is reported to have said he has won support for a sale of Northgate from shareholders owning 20pc of the company...
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Thursday, 29 June 2017, 7:37 pm
Which aggressive hedge fund is currently rather worried about its loans to a top flight European football club that has just seen its chairman's investment vehicle come under intense scrutiny from a national banking regulator?
If you think you have an idea do email ben@betaville.co.uk...
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersThursday, 29 June 2017, 2:47 pm
Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 28 June 2017, 5:30 pm
I see US financial news aggregator Benzinga is once again completely mis-representing little old Betaville's paywall protected Betaville Intelligence articles...
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersTuesday, 27 June 2017, 6:28 pm
Tuesday, 27 June 2017, 10:48 am
Pembridge Resources is pressing ahead with its standard listing move and little old Betaville understands the bookbuilding process has already started.
That's bad news for AIM, which has seen the number of companies listed on the junior market decline over the last decade. According to the London Stock Exchange's website there were 1694 companies listed on AIM in 2007 and that has fallen almost every year since then. ..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersMonday, 26 June 2017, 4:15 pm
Sunday, 25 June 2017, 3:00 pm
Tucked away on page 3 of the news pages of today's business section in The Sunday Times is a little item from one of my favourite hacks, the multi award winning Oliver Shah, about how Credit Suisse and a Saudi Arabian diplomat have settled a multi-million pound lawsuit over an investment in involving a skyscraper development in London's Docklands. Here is the link:..
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Saturday, 24 June 2017, 5:23 pm
Stockmarket cassandras at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan were out in force yesterday, warning of impending market crash.
So, several leading British newspapers, such as The Times, took those warnings seriously by splashing their business sections on the strategists' gloomy predictions. Here is a link to today's piece in the The Times: ..
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 22 June 2017, 7:41 pm
Aveva, the software engineering company, is said to be preparing its defences ahead of a potential approach from a mystery suitor.
Some sources claiming to be familiar with the matter suggested French giant Schneider Electric is once again weighing a deal with London-listed Aveva.
However, one banker close the situation said: "it's not clear how 'real' this situation is."..
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Thursday, 22 June 2017, 3:56 pm
There is a fun piece in The Times today from Martin Waller about leaks on M&A deals. Yes, you read it correctly - leaks!
Waller's intro made me giggle, so here is the link if you missed the tale from the old hack:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tracking-down-the-source-of-m-a-leaks-rjgtpmkrr..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersWednesday, 21 June 2017, 7:47 pm
Wednesday, 21 June 2017, 12:11 pm
If you have a spare five minutes at lunch then give Alistair Osborne's column in the The Times a read...
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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].