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.
When I interviewed Crispin Odey last month the old buffer said it was "highly probable" the FTSE 100 could end up at the 5000 level by the end of the year (I did have to ask him that question). Below is the link:..
Market turbulence and fears over a recession is clearly hitting dealmaking. Today, for example, Aston Martin and Lawrence Stroll have re-cut the fundraising deal with the Tommy Hilfiger tycoon as the embattled carmaker needed an extra £20 million.
Stroll, though, is getting a better deal with his consortium partners receiving 25pc of the company in return for £171m at a price of £2.25 per share...
Just to underline the point, Moss Bros this morning announced it is being sold to the owner of Crew Clothing. Michael Shina, for 22p a share. Below is a link today's announcement, which sent Moss Bros's shares 50pc higher!
It's hard for market practitioners to get enthusiastic about bid stories in this (almost official) bear market.
But let's not forget there have been three major deals announced this week - and it's only Wednesday!
On Monday, for example, insurance broker Aon agreed a $30 billion all share deal with Willis Towers Watson and Tesco announced the £8.2 billion sale of its Thai and Malaysian business to CP Group...
Marc Boyan, the chief executive of Aim-listed Reach4entertainment Enterprises, is said to have informally sounded out M&C Saatchi, the London-listed advertising agency, about a takeover of the business.
People following the situation said Lord Michael Grade, the former chief executive of ITV who sits on the board of Reach4entertainment as chairman, recently approached M&C Saatchi on Mr Boyan's behalf with the approach...
Perhaps charming Crispin will be proved right after all?
Two weeks ago I interviewed the the veteran hedge fund manager and asked him whether he thought the FTSE 100 index could end up at 5000 by the end of the year.
Odey - whose predictions of a stockmarket crash over the last four years have so far been proved to be spectacularly wrong - said that the FTSE 100 at 5000 was "highly probable". Below is a link to the interview in the Mail on Sunday:..
There are a few pieces out this week from Bloomberg about how recent market turbulence is starting to hit dealmaking.
But it's still pretty lively in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. Take, for example, this week's announcement from US giant Thermo Fisher about its $11.5 billion acquisition of Qiagen, the Dutch diagnostics testing group...
KKR, the US-listed private equity giant, has emerged as a surprise frontrunner to buy Dr Martens for over £300 million.
Sources familiar with the matter said KKR - the former owner of pharmacy giant Boots that was immortalised in the bestselling book Barbarians At The Gate - is vying with Carlyle, another Wall Street buy-out firm, to buy Dr Martens from Permira, a European investment firm...
So, the Agnelli family vehicle Exor finally confirms it has sold PartnersRe for $9 billion to France's mutual insurer Covea, effectively confirming The Insurance Insider's scoop from several weeks ago. Below is the link to the confirmation from Exor...
The potential takeover of Intersect ENT by Medtronic may have been delayed following interest from a rival party.
Some people following the situation expected Intersect ENT - which manufactures drug-delivery devices used by Ear, Nose & Throat clinicians in the treatment of sinusitis - to unveil a deal last week but an announcement failed to materialise.
Since then, Intersect ENT's shares have dropped signiticantly amid a wider stockmarket sell off...
A career in hedge funds looks to be over for former Tottenham Hotspur centre back Ramon Vega.
According to intrepid hack and Financial News City diarist, Tom Teodorczuk, Mayfair-based Vega Swiss Asset Management has finally gone into liquidation. Below is a link to Tom's piece about the former Switzerland international football player:..
It's been a torrid week for global stock markets but have a guess at which company was the best performing stock in the FTSE 100?
Yes, it was the gulf-based hospital operator Muddy Waters loves to hate: NMC Health.
According to Bloomberg data, NMC Health's shares were up 9.73pc on the week, making it the best performing stock in the blue chip index. HSBC was the second best performer, losing 4pc on the week...
I know this is starting to sound a bit hackneyed but: another day, another confirmation for little old Betaville.
You might recall that this website published a series of Betaville Intelligence articles about Gain Capital, owner of Michael Spencer's spread betting firm City Index, and then revealed INTL FCStone was the mystery suitor circling the business. Below are the links, including a follow up in Mail on Sunday's business section...
Remember Circassia Pharmaceuticals? It was the Woodford-backed Aim darling that hit the headlines with its potential a treatment for people with cat allergies.
But that plan, along with Woodford's investment, went down the drain when the company discovered "its investigational house dust mite allergy immunotherapy failed to show a significant effect compared with placebo"...
Is Morgan Stanley advising/financing GKSD and Gruppo San Donato on their potential bid for NMC Health?
The reason I posit this question is that there have been a series of disclosures suggesting that's the case without it being explicitly laid out. See below:..
Avid followers of my work might have noticed over the weekend in the Mail on Sunday's business section that a colleague and I spotted that Richard Chandler, the Kiwi "billionaire" was behind Jasmine Capital Investments, which has been building a significant stake in beleguered NMC Health over the last few weeks. See the link below:..
Oh look - I see the mystery suitor that has been circling Countrywide for the last six months has finally decided to step out of the shadows via Mark, "the Kleinmanator", Kleinman of Sky News.
Below is a link to Mark's great scoop and the pieces I wrote last year about Countrywide (whose spinners were denying back then anything was afoot):..
Looking through today's business sections Betaville was surprised by how little coverage was given to Smith & Nephew, a FTSE 100-listed company that yesterday announced much better-than-expected figures.
The excellent The Times business section, run by my old boss Richard "Fletch" Fletcher, gave the Smith & Nephew earnings story a small slot while the Daily Mail led the market report with the orthopedics company...
[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].