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.
Monday, 10 January 2022, 9:02 am
There was plenty to chew on in yesterday's British Sunday newspapers, including a fascinating set piece interview by Oliver "Shahsy" Shah of The Sunday Times with Paul Polman, the former chief executive of Unilever...
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Friday, 7 January 2022, 8:09 am
Vin Murria, the multi-millionaire technology entrepreneur, has finally put her cards on the table at M&C Saatchi, the London-listed advertising agency that has been on little old Betaville's radar since 2020.
Below is a link to an announcement confirming an interesting in her buying the whole company via her new (ish) investment vehicle AdvancedAdvT Limited:..
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 6 January 2022, 10:01 pm
Loyal readers won't be too surprised to see reports about Auchan and its owners, the Mulliez family, once again working on a fresh bid for Carrefour, the France-listed supermarket giant.
Back in early December little old Betaville reported on Betaville Intelligence that Carrefour remains "in play", with Auchan rumoured to be one of the parties interested in the business. Below is the link:..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersThursday, 6 January 2022, 9:58 am
Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersWednesday, 5 January 2022, 4:08 pm
Tuesday, 4 January 2022, 7:35 pm
It's been almost a year since the former Chancellor of the Exchequer joined London-based deals advisory firm Robey Warshaw to much fanfare but that doesn't seem to have led to much confirmed dealmaking, so far.
According to data provider Refinitiv, Robey Warshaw - set up by ex Mogan Stanley uber rainmaker Sir Simon Robey and former UBS banker Simon Warshaw - last year came 13th in the annual UK merger and acquisitions rankings (also known as league tables)...
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Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 3 January 2022, 1:52 pm
It would appear there is an interesting game of poker being played by THG's controversial management and stock market bears, with the latter willing to call the former's bluff.
In case you missed it over the weekend, my old chum Neil "Neily" Craven had a tale on the front page of the Mail on Sunday's business section about how short sellers had increased their bets against the company in recent days. Below is a link to Neily's splash story:..
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Friday, 31 December 2021, 10:30 am
It's the final day of the year but the dealmaking goes on.
This time 3G - the giant private equity firm led by Brazilian billionaires - is buying a 75pc stake in Dutch window blinds maker Hunter Douglas from the Sonnenberg family for EURO 175 a share.
That means 3G - which a few years ago attempted to purchase Unilever alongside Warren Buffett - is buying Hunter Douglas at a 73pc premium...
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Thursday, 30 December 2021, 12:16 pm
Who would have tought there would be multi-billion dollar takeover shenanigans during a short, typically quiet holiday week.
The latest tale doing the rounds is about Samsung holding talks about takeover of Biogen, the US-listed biotechnology company that is developing a drug for Alhzeimer's...
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersWednesday, 29 December 2021, 11:30 am
Thursday, 23 December 2021, 8:05 pm
It's December 23rd but yet the deals keep on coming.
Indeed, this morning London-listed Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of Paddy Power and Sky Bet, announced the £1.6 billion purchase of Italian gambling company Sisal and this afternoon it emerged Quidel Corporation, the US-listed testing group, is paying $6 billion in cash and stock offer for Ortho Clinical Diagnostics...
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Wednesday, 22 December 2021, 11:39 am
Shares in Pensana, the London-listed rare earth minerals supplier, are up almost 10pc stoday after the company issued shares via placing at a premium to a blue chip investment house.
M&G Investment Management is paying 81p a share, or £10 million, for just over 12.3 million shares (around 5pc of the company) in Pensana. Below is a link to the company's press release:..
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Betaville IntelligenceTuesday, 21 December 2021, 9:15 am
It would appear rivals at Bloomberg have finally decided to follow up little old Betaville's uncooked alert about THG from a week ago.
Today, Bloomie published a long piece on Matt Moulding's THG, formerly known as The Hut Group. I have pasted the key paragraphs below if you can't be bothered to read the long introduction and also a link to the whole piece:..
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Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 20 December 2021, 5:41 pm
So, Oracle finanlly announced its $28.3 billion acquisition of Cerner Corporation, the US-listed medical information company. Below is a link to the deal announcement:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oracle-buys-cerner-301448252.html..
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Monday, 20 December 2021, 4:59 pm
George Osborne's new (ish) corporate finance firm received some generous press with reports suggesting Robey Warshaw partners shared £30 million over the last year.
Well, that's what the latest set of accounts show, according to Jim "Armo" Armitage piece in yesterday's The Sunday Times. Below is the link to his piece in yesterday's newspaper:..
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Betaville IntelligenceFriday, 17 December 2021, 10:01 am
I see rivals at The Wall Street Journal are claiming to have an "exclusive" about Oracle's $30 billion takeover of Cerner Corporation, the health information technology company. Below is the link:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/oracle-in-talks-to-buy-cerner-11639697730..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersThursday, 16 December 2021, 3:15 pm
Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersThursday, 16 December 2021, 2:35 pm
Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersTuesday, 14 December 2021, 4:01 pm
Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 13 December 2021, 7:39 pm
It would appear France's BFM news channel has decided to follow up on little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alert from last week about the Carrefour SA.
BFM is suggesting that Auchan and the Mulliez family, who control Auchan, are still keen to do a deal that could involve of a takeover of / or merger with Carrefour. Below is a link to the piece if you missed it:..
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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].