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.
Tuesday, 9 January 2024, 8:04 am
Hacks at the Wall Street Journal have a got a bit between their teeth, delivering yet another major takeover scoop.
This time the deal team at WSJ are reporting that Hewlett Packard Enterprise is in "advanced talks" to purchase US-listed networking company Juniper Networks for $13 billion.
Yes that's the same Juniper Networks that was rumoured in 2017 to be takeover target for Finland's Nokia. Anyway, below is a link to the WSJ's scoop:..
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Tuesday, 9 January 2024, 7:49 am
Another day, another biopharmaucetical takeover by a major pharmaceutical company.
This time it's the turn of FTSE 100-listed GlaxoSmithKline, which is paying $1.4 billion for Aiolos Bio, Inc, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for respiratory and inflammatory conditions.
Below is the link to this morning if you would like to read all the details of the transaction:..
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Betaville IntelligenceMonday, 8 January 2024, 6:25 pm
I see rivals at the venerable Wall Street Journal have finally decided to follow up little old Betaville's UNCOOKED Alerts about the Cytokinetics takeover rumours...
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Monday, 8 January 2024, 1:00 pm
A string of US-listed biotechnology deals have been announced today.
They include: Boston Scientific's $3.7 billion acquisition of US-listed medical technology company Axonics and Merck's $680 million takeover of Harpoon Therapeutics.
Also, announced today was Johnson & Johnson's $2 billion acquisition of US-listed biopharmaceutical company Ambrx. Below is the link to that deal announcement:..
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Monday, 8 January 2024, 9:08 am
Colleagues at The Sunday Times wheeled out a bunch of UK deal predictions ahead of the first full working week of 2024.
In a piece headlined "Britain for sale" laid out across pages 2 and 3 of the business section Oliver Gill, Jon Yeomans and Laith Al-Khalaf wrote a lengthy feature about potential takeovers involving London-listed companies this year...
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Friday, 5 January 2024, 6:43 pm
Hacks at the Wall Street Journal have just dug out another good line about the Ansys takeover talks with Synopsis.
According to the WSJ, the two design software companies are in "advanced" talks with Synopsis looking to acquire Ansys Inc for about $400 per share, around $35 billion, in a cash-and-stock deal that could be one of the first big tech transactions of the new year...
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Friday, 5 January 2024, 10:36 am
Another day, another BP takeover rumour.
This time it's the Daily Mail's turn to report on the rumours circulating the London market.
The rumour in the Daily Mail is eerily similar to the one aired by Mark "The Kleinmanator" Kleinman in City AM early this week about potential interest from Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell.
Still, if you want to read the Daily Mail piece I have pasted the link below:..
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Thursday, 4 January 2024, 9:36 am
Another week, another punchy takeover prediction for 2024 from Mark "The Kleinmanator" Kleinman of Sky News.
This time Kleiny - a former boss and colleague during our time on The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph - is forecasting in his City AM column that FTSE 100-listed oil giant BP may receive a takeover bid, or possibly bids, from US giant Chevron or/and Royal Dutch Shell. Below is a link to Kleiny's intriguing column:..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersWednesday, 3 January 2024, 8:29 pm
Monday, 1 January 2024, 11:30 am
The newspapers' New Year's predictions roll on into New Year's day.
This time it is the FT's turn to wildly speculate about deals that might happen in 2024.
And hacks at the venerable newspaper aren't holding back. Adrienne Klasa, for example, seems to think that Bernard Arnault, the billionaire boss of LVMH, is keen to do another major deal and may be thinking about Switzerland-listed Compagnie Financiere Richemont, the company that owns Cartier...
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Sunday, 31 December 2023, 1:42 pm
It's that time of the year when weekend newspapers look to fill their pages with predictions for the following twelve months.
And one prediction, in particular, by a chum at The Sunday Times stood out to little old Betaville today.
Jim "Armo" Armitage, The Sunday Times business editor, has tipped Vertu Motors because one his "Arthur Daley"-esque snouts has suggested 2024 will be the year the car dealer gets a takeover bid...
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Saturday, 30 December 2023, 10:16 am
Tucked away in the back of today's The Daily Telegraph is decent story about Hipgnosis, the music rights arm that has been in the headlines recently.
According to Telegraph hack James Warrington, Josh Gruss - the chief executive of Round Hill Music - has "bought shares in Hipgnosis Songs Fund"...
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Thursday, 28 December 2023, 6:02 pm
It's been a while since the London market saw a FTSE 100 food retailer takeover bid.
So little old Betaville's eyes almost popped out while reading Mark "The Kleinmanator" Kleinman's column in City AM...
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersWednesday, 27 December 2023, 3:30 pm
Wednesday, 27 December 2023, 10:54 am
Little old Betaville has noticed that three of the world's largest pharmaceutical giants have all recently done two major takeover deals within a few weeks, and in some cases days, of each other...
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Friday, 22 December 2023, 12:10 pm
The US biotechnology dealmaking wave rumbles on.
This time round pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb is paying $14 billion for Karuna Therapeutics, which is developing a drug for shizophrenia.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Bristol Myers Squibb is offering $330 a share in cash for Karuna. Below is a link to the WSJ scoop:..
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Friday, 22 December 2023, 9:49 am
The Times appears to be publishing its New Year tips early.
Emma Powell, editor of The Tempus stocktipping column, today concludes in her lengthy piece about the FTSE 100-listed the owner of Ladbrokes and Gala Coral that "a potential bid for Entain by MGM Resorts seems more probable than it has done for some time"...
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Thursday, 21 December 2023, 6:48 pm
Who would have thought the London market would see one of the biggest deals of 2023 announced in the penultimate week of the year.
But this afternoon it happened, with London-listed North Sea oil and gas explorer Harbour Energy announcing a deal to buy Wintershal Dea's assets for $11.2 billion from Germany's BASF and LetterOne, which is backed by sanction-hit Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven...
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Betaville IntelligenceThursday, 21 December 2023, 5:25 pm
It only took rivals at Deareporter seven weeks to figure out that one of the bidders for US-listed biotechnology company is Swizterland-based giant Novartis.
This afternoon Dealreporter published a story suggesting that Novartis and AstraZeneca are circling Cytokinetics...
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Thursday, 21 December 2023, 9:18 am
Dominic "Dom" Walsh, veteran business hack on The Times, began his market report with an intriguing line about how the Saudi Telecom Company is circling BT Group, the FTSE 100-listed telecoms giant.
According to Dom's report, the Saudi Telecom Company may be talking to Patrick Drahi about buying some or all of his shareholding in BT Group following a period in which the Switzerland-based telecoms billionaire has been accumulating a 25pc stake...
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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].