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.
Saturday, 2 March 2019, 2:50 pm
Betaville thought it only right that I follow up this week's piece with a snippet noting that it was, in fact, The Sunday Times Prufrock diarist Liam Kelly who first picked up on FTI Consulting's attempt to win an award for its "defence" of GKN, the FTSE 100-listed aerospace giant bought by Melrose.
So, many grovelling apologies for missing that Mr Kelly!
And below is a link to the young scamp's original Prufrock column:..
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Friday, 1 March 2019, 6:34 pm
Spotted: Steve Mnuchin, the 77th and current United States Secretary of the Treasury.
Betaville had been loafing around Mayfair (a smart area of London that tends to attract bankers, hedgies and men in dark glasses) looking for jackanories when lo and behold Steve Mnuchin, the Donald Trump sidekick with the unpronounceable surname, appears out of nowhere...
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Thursday, 28 February 2019, 10:05 pm
Betaville chuckled at the titbit in Dom Walsh's business diary column in The Times today about how FTI Consulting entered the PRCA City and Financial Awards for “best M&A or communication in support of a transaction award” for its work defending GKN from last year’s £8 billion hostile takeover by Melrose Industries. Below is a link if you missed it:..
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Wednesday, 27 February 2019, 10:32 pm
An investment group backed by the Qatari royal family is seeking a buyer for Anya Hindmarch amid a period of tough trading for the handbag brand favoured by royals and celebrities, such as the Duchess of Cambridge, Beyonce and Keira Knightly...
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Tuesday, 26 February 2019, 7:24 pm
Mocado, Markado and Ocamark. These are just some of the monikers being used to describe the latest Marks & Spencer / Ocado joint venture tie-up.
Anyway, hat tip to the Evening Standard's Russell Lynch for smoking out the latest iteration of the deal with his scoop today in the paper about the impending transaction. Below is a link to Russell Lynch's piece in case you missed it:..
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Monday, 25 February 2019, 10:17 pm
Charming Crispin was gracious enough to talk to little old Betaville last week about the Wirecard shenanigans despite the ribbing over the past few years.
So, in you case missed it over the weekend I have pasted a link to the mini interview with Crispin - last year's pest performing hedge fund manager, according to HSBC - in yesterday's Mail on Sunday's excellent business section...
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Saturday, 23 February 2019, 12:23 pm
Reach 4 Entertainment confirmed Betaville's RARE ALERT yesterday but it would appear I only got hold of one aspect of the story.
Below is a link to the press release, which confirms a £3 million equity fundraising but also unveils the acquisition of Agency Press Limited:..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersFriday, 22 February 2019, 3:48 pm
Thursday, 21 February 2019, 9:59 pm
I see former The Sunday Times colleague, Simon Duke, is being rather mean to NM Rothschild banker Majid Ishaq in today's business diary in The Times.
Dukey gently mocks Ishaq, the man in charge of advising Asda on its merger with J Sainsbury, for a potential loss of a multi-million pound success fee after it became clear the CMA is likely to block the mega deal. Below is a link to Simon's piece:..
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Exclusive to Betaville Intelligence subscribersWednesday, 20 February 2019, 1:59 pm
Wednesday, 20 February 2019, 9:37 am
Reach 4 Entertainment, the London-listed marketing communications company, is said to be tapping the equity markets for capital.
People claiming to be familiar with the matter said Reach 4 Entertainment is looking to raise up to £4 million in fresh funds, possibly via a placing with investors.
It's not clear which broker is leading the equity fundraising but people claiming to be familiar with the matter said the new shares could be issued at around 1.1p...
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Monday, 18 February 2019, 6:08 pm
Oh look - a group of Labour MPs led by Chuka Umanna have split from Labour and appear to be on the cusp of launching a new political party, thereby confirming a tale little old Betaville stumbled across just over two years ago.
In case you don't recall, below is a link to my original "exclusive" story:..
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Monday, 18 February 2019, 7:35 am
It would appear last Friday's post on Wirecard as part of a 6 part series of stories dating back from 2016 has got quite a few readers' knickers in a twist.
Clearly, many followers of the site didn't bother to read past the headline and just presumed Betaville was reporting the Chinese are in talks about taking a 25pc stake in Wirecard.....
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Saturday, 16 February 2019, 12:34 am
An investment firm owned by Lloyds Banking Group is preparing to sell CitySprint, one of Britain's biggest same-day delivery companies.
People familiar with the matter said Lloyds Development Capital, the private equity arm of Lloyds, had recently appointed advisers from corporate finance firm Raymond James to look at offloading CitySprint...
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Friday, 15 February 2019, 6:05 pm
Betaville's Wirecard series returns!
Why?
Well, after reading today's front page of the Companies & Markets section of the venerable Financial Times about Ant Financial's $700 million purchase of WorldFirst Betaville was struck by the fact that the timing of the deal is rather amusing given that the Chinese group was once suggested as a potential investor/acquirer of 25pc of Wirecard...
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Friday, 15 February 2019, 8:53 am
Well, Betaville has added Premier Foods's Ambrosia to the busted auction list.
Below is a link to this morning's RNS that says Ambrosia has been taken off the market because of "the present business climate the process will not result in a satisfactory financial outcome"...
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Thursday, 14 February 2019, 11:28 pm
City hacks are trying hard to dig up deal stories. This week, for example, Mark "The Kleinmanator" Kleinman of Sky News "revealed" that the owners of sandwhich chain Eat and department store Liberty had hired advisers to find purchasers for both businesses.
However, according to Betaville's well-placed sources, there are just as many, if not more, deals falling over in the UK during this period of extreme political uncertainty...
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Wednesday, 13 February 2019, 10:54 pm
Tucked away in the Evening Standard's business section is a story from Laura Onita about how Mike Ashley's holding company has organised a £907 million revolving credit facility.
It was good a spot in the Mash Holdings's Companies House filings from the up-and-coming hackette and got Betaville pondering on why the maverick entrepreneur had organised such a big credit line...
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Tuesday, 12 February 2019, 10:54 pm
The Irish punters - Dermot Desmond, John Magnier and JP McManus - behind Barchester Healthcare could be in luck.
Dealmaking has been tough in the last couple of months, with several sales processes falling over (more on that topic in another post) due to volatile markets and the dreaded Brexit...
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Monday, 11 February 2019, 11:01 pm
Is anybody else wondering why Mike Ashley changed his mind about trying to buy Patisserie Valerie in the space of 48 hours?
The whole idea of Ashley buying the coffee chain seemed rather bizarre in the first place. Trainers, tracksuits and, er, French-themed croissant bars...
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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].