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.
Monday, 11 June 2018, 9:54 am
Boston Scientific Corporation, the US medical devices maker, has come under the spotlight amid talk it is attracing takeover interest from a rival.
According to sources claiming to be familiar with the matter, a mystery suitor is said to be circling Boston Scientific.
One source claiming to be familiar with the matter suggested Boston Scientific may have already received a takeover proposal from a suitor...
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Friday, 8 June 2018, 1:35 pm
PEI Media - publisher of one of the journals read by many of the City's bankers, lawyers and buy-out barons - is about to be bought by Bridgepoint Development Capital for over £120 million.
According to sources familiar with the matter, a takeover of PEI Media by BDC could be announced in the next few days.
This would be the second (possibly third time) Betaville has broken a story about PEI Media since this website first started in 2014...
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Thursday, 7 June 2018, 9:28 am
The company that publishes the Farmers Guardian is set to be sold by it's private equtiy owners for up to £150 million.
Sources familiar with the matter said Lyceum Capital has hired advisers from Raymond James to find a buyer for AgriBriefing.
As well as publishing the Farmers Guardian, AgriBriefing creates and sells prices for eggs, red meat and animal feed.
The company also runs Britain's largest farm machinery and equipment show - Lamma...
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Wednesday, 6 June 2018, 4:54 pm
Some of the City's top bankers, lawyers and industry executives have emerged as investors in a company whose founder is engaged in an almighty row with London-listed AA.
According to sources familiar with the matter, Giles Fitzpatrick, Michael Symons and Kevin Gaskell were seed investors in Motoriety, an app that links motorists to repair garages that was set up by entrepreneur Lucy Burnford...
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Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 6 June 2018, 3:43 pm
OneView Group, a company that specialises in selling cloud-based software products, is said to be looking to raise up to £5 million via an equity fundraising.
According to sources claiming to be familiar with the matter, OneView Group - formerly known as Armour Group - is working on a plan to raise between £3 million and £5 million...
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Tuesday, 5 June 2018, 10:07 pm
Cabinet rows over Brexit failed to stop the very top echelons of government from attending Cavendish Corporate Finance's 30th birthday party tonight.
Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Philip Hammond, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Matt Hancock, Culture Secretary, all made it down to the shindig at Lancaster House, a neo classical mansion built for the second son of King George III in 1825...
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Monday, 4 June 2018, 9:43 pm
Loyal followers of Betaville's work might have spotted a piece written in this weekend's The Sunday Times business section about the imminent £1.5 billion sale of Cory Riverside Energy by Strategic Value Partners. Well, in case you didn't I have pasted a link below:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tycoon-li-ka-shing-eyes-waste-giant-w6p2cl93s..
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Monday, 4 June 2018, 12:19 pm
A couple of weeks ago the Financial Times claimed Barclays was plotting a merger with Standard Chartered. This week the Pink'un is reporting Societe Generale is seeking a tie-up with Italian rival Unicredit. Below is a link to today's splash story:
https://www.ft.com/content/b87ee262-6723-11e8-b6eb-4acfcfb08c11..
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Saturday, 2 June 2018, 4:43 pm
On Monday Sky News via the Kleinmanator bellowed the government was about to launch a sale of some of its stake in the dreaded Royal Bank of Scotland.
But nothing came, which was a surprise as the Kleinmanator is normally on the money.
So, what happened?
Well, the City Insider column in the yesterday's venerable Financial Times has a decent explanation. Below is a link in case you missed it:..
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Wednesday, 30 May 2018, 10:01 pm
It's busy in the M&A world. Perhaps the busiest it has ever been for dealmakers over the last decade in Britain.
But there is one thing gnawing away at Betaville: it's also extremely busy in the UK restructuring market, with CVAs, liquidations and administrations taking place across several sectors, such as leisure, retail and construction contracting...
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersMonday, 28 May 2018, 7:09 pm
Betaville IntelligenceSaturday, 26 May 2018, 11:25 am
There has been plenty of coverage about Wesfarmers/Bunnings disastrous acquisition of Homebase over the last couple of days - and how the Aussies tend to mess up major British acquisitions (think back to Slater & Gordon's £673 million purchase of Quindell).
But just as Homebase was being sold to Hilco for a £1 another Australian-listed company was quietly completing an audacious raid on a London-based business - John Guest, the widget manufacturer set up in 1961...
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Thursday, 24 May 2018, 11:22 am
The company that prints magazines for Vogue publisher Conde Nast is set to change hands after its private equity owners appointed investment banking advisers to weigh strategic options for the business.
According to sources claiming to be familiar with the matter, Rutland Partners - the buy-out firm that recently sold Pizza Hut UK to Pricoa for £100 million - has hired bankers from NM Rothschild to examine a sale or float of Walstead Investments. ..
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Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 23 May 2018, 3:55 pm
The predator stalking Capital & Counties Properties since late last year is said to be closing in on the property developer.
According to sources claiming to be familiar with the matter, the potential buyers interested in the beleguered London-based developer are said to be on the verge of formalising a proposal for some or all of the FTSE 250-listed business...
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Wednesday, 23 May 2018, 9:08 am
The venerable Financial Times landed a cracking scoop overnight about Barclays explorer a merger with Standard Chartered. I have pasted the link below:
https://www.ft.com/content/7b3c789a-5e0b-11e8-9334-2218e7146b04
It looks like a well-researched piece: there are three by-lines, including one from Patrick Jenkins, a very senior FT hack who has been covering banks for years...
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Monday, 21 May 2018, 8:43 pm
Ping! A marketing document arrives from Odey Wealth, which as far as I can work out is the private client division for charming Crispin's hedge fund group.
Anyway, the letter is entitled: "The Tide is Turning". Does that ring any bells?
It goes on to say:..
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Betaville IntelligenceFriday, 18 May 2018, 9:38 pm
Reliance Worldwide Corporation, the Australian plumbing equipment manfacturer, is in advanced talks to buy privately-owned UK-based John Guest for £500 million.
According to sources claiming to be familiar with the matter, Reliance Worldwide Corporation (RWC) - which is listed in Australia - beat off competition from several private equity firms, including US-based AEA Investors, for John Guest...
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersThursday, 17 May 2018, 5:08 pm
Thursday, 17 May 2018, 12:51 pm
This is pretty unusual: publishing company Quarto has just announced that its chairman was thrown off the board at the company's Annual Meeting today.
Peter Read and 3 other non-executive directors were voted off and will be replaced by founder and 20pc shareholder Dr Laurence Orbach, Mr Chuk Kin Lau, Ms Mei Lan Lam and Mick Mousley, former chief financial officer of Quarto.
Ouch!..
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Thursday, 17 May 2018, 10:35 am
After 31 instalments to this long-running saga it would appear Betaville is able to finally answer the question posed in headline: yes, the tide is turning for charming Crispin.
According to the sports pages (hedge fund parlance for the HSBC fund performance rankings), it would appear the flagship Odey European Fund is one of the best performers in Europe this year, rising 17.07pc so far...
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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].