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.
It would appear little old Betaville was barking up the right tree with his latest UNCOOKED Alert about Digital 9 Infrastructure, the London-listed investment trust.
Sixth Street has just said it has no intention of making an offer and is now bound by the restrictions of rule 2.8 of the Takeover Code etc etc etc. Below is a the link to the press release:..
Hacks at The Wall Street Journal landed a decent scoop overnight about Switzerland's Roche talks to buy a stomach drug from Roivant Sciences, the US-listed biotechnology group.
According to the WSJ report, Roche is looking to pay around $7 billion for drug, so no wonder Roivant's shares are up amost 16pc in the pre-market as the market capitlisation of the company is just under $9 billion...
To the H/Advisors party at Savoy Place in central London...
What is it about stockmarket bears and Swedish companies?
Over the last couple of years some of the stockmarket's most ferocious bears, including Fraser Perring's Viceroy, have targeted ailing Swedish firms, such as Swedish property company Samhällsbyggnadsbolaget (also known as SBB) and more recently Hexatronic Group, a telecoms equipment company...
There is still plenty of talk circulating the London market at the moment that dealmaking activity has dropped off a cliff.
Yet, every morning this week there has been a fresh deal announced on the regulatory news service - albeit at the smaller end of the market.
STM Group, for example, this morning said the pensions administrator is in talks to recommend an offer of 70p a share from Edi Truell's Pension SuperFund Capital. Below is a link to that announcement:..
Ping! An email arrives from "strategic communications advisory group" (also known as a public relations firm) H/Advisors.
One of the authors is Neil Bennett, now "global co-chief executive of H/Advisors". Bennett also managed to get a slot on Ian King's Sky News show to talk about his firm's findings from its "research" into leaks...
The Genteel Hustler is returning to national newspaper business journalism.
Genteel, also known as Will Turvill, has just been snapped up by chums and colleagues at The Sunday Times business section, and will be covering media amongst other things.
In case you don't recall, Genteel picked up his moniker during our time working on the Mail on Sunday's business section for his extremely polite but persistent story-hustling style...
Fidelity National Information Services has just announced the sale of a 55pc stake in Worldpay for almost $12 billion to Chicago-based buy out house GTCR. Below is a link to the press release:..
Loyal Betaville subscribers will know that Saras SpA, the Italy-listed oil refining company, has been on this website's radar for several months (see UNCOOKED Alerts part 1 and part 2).
So, little old Betaville was intrigued to see Trafigura, the Switzerland-based commodity trading group, increase its shareholding in Saras to just below 14pc.
Still watching (wink wink).....
Another day, another confirmation for little old Betaville.
This time little old Betaville published UNCOOKED Alert this afternoon about rumours of a Dutch company holding talks to buy Impellam Group, the Aim-listed staffing group whose largest shareholder is Lord Ashcroft, the controversial British businessman and former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. Below is a link to that UNCOOKED Alert:..
A Dutch company is rumoured to be in advanced talks to buy Impellam Group, the Aim-listed staffing whose majority shareholder is Lord Ashcroft, the British businessman and former deputy chairman of the Convervative Party.
Impellam has been in an "offer period" since April last year. Impellam appointed bankers from Houlihan Lokey to act as a financial advisor after Lord Ashcroft, who owns 62pc of the company, said he is weighing a sale of his shareholding...
Last week's scoopette about the takeover of privately-owned Anthesis Group has now been confirmed.
Carlyle, one of the private equity firms suggested in little old Betaville's orignal report as a potential purchaser, is paying around £400 million for Anthesis, the UK-based sustainability consultancy.
Below is the link to the confirmation and little old Betaville's original story:..
It's taken almost a year but Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, the US-listed biopharmaceutical company, has finally acquiesced to MKT Capital's demands and formally put itself up for sale. Below is a link to the press release that was issued last night:..
Well, it turns out there was no formal "denial" from Amazon to CNBC after all about it's interest in Ocado, the London-listed online food retailer.
According to Bloomberg, CNBC said it“inaccurately stated in an on-air graphic the current status of Amazon’s engagement with Ocado"...
Shares in London-listed online food grocer Ocado have dropped like a stone, sliding almost 10pc at pixel time.
The trigger for the decline appears to be a piece out on American business news channel CNBC, suggesting Amazon has denied any interest in purchasing Ocado.
The whole piece on CNBC is a bit odd because the main item is based on Zoom interview with James Lockyer, a Peel Hunt analyst...
A sustainability consultancy firm that works for technology giants such as Amazon, FTSE 100-listed retailer Tesco and the British government could be about to change hands for around £400 million.
People following the situation said Anthesis Group has hired advisers from Lazard to work on a "strategic review", which could lead to a sale of the business...
[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].