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.
Wednesday, 10 February 2021, 5:48 pm
It would appear analysts at Morgan Stanley were bang on the money with their prediction that Upper Crust owner SSP would have to carry out a second equity issue.
Indeed, Alice Hancock and Gill Plimmer of the Financial Times have just dug out a rather good scoop suggesting SSP is looking to raise £500 million by way of a rights issue. That is more than double than what the company raised last year on the equity market. Below is a link to their piece:..
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Betaville IntelligenceTuesday, 9 February 2021, 6:15 pm
So, Bloomberg's overnight "scoop" about Groupe BPCE weighing a bid for the remainder of Natixis it doesn't own smoked out today's confirmation about a Euro 4 a share tender offer. Below is a link to the Bloomie tale:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-08/france-s-bpce-said-in-advanced-talks-on-potential-natixis-buyout..
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Betaville IntelligenceTuesday, 9 February 2021, 4:00 pm
Mark, "the Kleinmanator", Kleinman of Sky News picked up a decent scoop overnight about London-listed share registrar Equiniti receiving a 170p a share takeover offer from US-based private equity firm Siris Capital. Below is the link:
https://news.sky.com/story/equiniti-draws-600m-takeover-interest-from-us-buyout-firm-siris-12212757..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersMonday, 8 February 2021, 3:00 pm
Sunday, 7 February 2021, 4:03 pm
There weren't too many deal stories in today's British Sunday newspapers as it's clear there are many more imporant things to worry about.
But Oliver Gill, a hotshot young business hack on The Sunday Telegraph, had a similar line to Betaville about the G4S bid battle heading towards a Takeover Panel-led auction. Below are the links to those tales:..
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Betaville IntelligenceSaturday, 6 February 2021, 1:51 pm
Dbay Advisors, the activist investor, has increased its shareholding in Aim-listed 'internet of things' designer Telit Communications to 25.79pc. Below is a link to yesterday's announcement:
https://www.investegate.co.uk/telit-communications--tcm-/rns/holding-s--in-company/202102041732060751O/..
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Betaville IntelligenceFriday, 5 February 2021, 11:58 am
Perhaps I won't need the popcorn after all: this morning Blackstone and Bill Gates's firm Cascade announced it had teamed with Global Infrastructure Partners to mount a joint £3.4 billion offer for Signature Aviation at 411p a share. Below is the link:..
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 4 February 2021, 10:50 pm
Speculation is mounting that Pernod Ricard, the France-listed drinks giant, is the European company circling Treasury Wine Estates.
People following the situation have heard rumours Pernod Ricard is working with advisers from Morgan Stanley on a potential acquisition of the Australia-listed wine distributor.
A large private equity firm is also said be interested in Treasury Wine Estates, said people following the situation...
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 4 February 2021, 8:21 pm
Betaville was casting around for stories today and stumbled around a curious line around the three-way battle for Signature Aviation, the London-listed private jet operator.
It would appear, according to publicly available financing documents, that Global Infrastructure Partners, one of the firms interested in buying Signature Aviation, is offering to finance its bid in, er, equity. Yes, you heard that right - equity to the tune of $4.6 billion...
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Wednesday, 3 February 2021, 12:32 pm
British newspapers devoted plenty of column inches to George Osborne's move to Sir Simon Robey's firm Robey Warshaw. But little has been made of the fact that Sir Simon, the City of London's uber dealmaker, quietly resigned as a director of Ian Osborne's firm last September...
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Betaville IntelligenceWednesday, 3 February 2021, 11:09 am
Another week, another increase in Dbay's shareholding in Telit Communications, the Aim-listed 'internet of things' designer.
This morning it was disclosed that Dbay, which in December offered 194.8p a share for Telit Communications, now owns 23pc of the business. Below is the link:..
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Tuesday, 2 February 2021, 6:49 am
Punters might want to keep an eye on Tiziana Life Sciences, the London-listed biopharmaceutical company.
That's because Betaville hears the company has been working on a Covid-19 drug treatment that might be able to address the new variants of the virus entering the United Kingdom...
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersMonday, 1 February 2021, 9:59 pm
Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 1 February 2021, 2:39 pm
Groupe BPCE is rumoured to be working with heavyweight American advisers on the potential Natixis deal.
People following the situation have heard speculation JP Morgan has been advising privately-owned Groupe BPCE on strategic options, which include buying out the remainder of Natixis that it doesn't own...
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Monday, 1 February 2021, 7:43 am
JD Sports has just announced it is paying $495 million for US-based trainer retailer DTLR Villa. Below is the link to the announcement.
https://www.investegate.co.uk/jd-sports-fashion--jd--/rns/conditional-agreement-for-the-acquisition-of-dtlr/202102010700095061N/..
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Monday, 1 February 2021, 7:30 am
Hacks at the venerable Wall Street Journal dug out a corker late last night: apparently ExxonMobil and Chevron looked at combining last year to create a $350 billion oil behemoth. Below is a link to the scoop:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/exxon-chevron-ceos-discussed-merger-11612126203?mod=hp_lead_pos1..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersFriday, 29 January 2021, 3:45 pm
Betaville IntelligenceFriday, 29 January 2021, 10:35 am
I see rivals at Bloomberg have finally woken up to the Marston's bid rumour and published a piece about interest from private equity firms such Platinum.
Now, this news won't come as a surprise to readers of this website as Betaville Intelligence first revealed the bid speculation surrounding Marston's in an UNCOOKED Alert and a follow up a few weeks ago. Below are the links:..
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 28 January 2021, 5:26 pm
Word is Simon "Dingo" Dingemans is leading Carlyle's potential bid for Signature Aviation.
Now, younger readers might not recall who Dingemans is. Back in the boom boom of the noughties Dingemans was one of the top dealmakers at Goldman Sachs, advising on the some the biggest takeover deals, such as the £12bn takeover of Alliance Boots by KKR in 2007 and Vodafone's hostile £115bn acquisition of Mannesmann in 2000...
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Thursday, 28 January 2021, 1:06 pm
It would appear this morning's missive has stirred the pot somewhat, eliciting howls from sound corners of the London market.
To be clear, this morning's report wasn't suggesting there WILL BE a Takeover Panel led auction this weekend; just that is talk there is one coming down the track as there are moves afoot by advisers (don't forget, this could all be tactical to get one side to jump first)...
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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].