Betaville

Sunday review - the Debenhams/Ashley conundrum.

Neil Craven, a colleague over at the Mail on Sunday's business section, landed a cracking tale this weekend about ailing department store Debenhams...

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Former business editor turned PR man writes something interesting about activists...

Most hacks on national newspapers are bombarded by public relations-driven research on daily basis. Today, for example, I count around 20 of these type of emails in my inbox. And I'm just a jobbing freelancer and editor of a one man band website. Just imagine how many a staff journalist receives on a national newspaper...

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That £10 billion Gatwick sale...

At first sight it would appear hacks over at Bloomberg followed my scoopette in this weekend's Mail on Sunday about the looming £10 billion Gatwick Airport sale. Below is a link to the Irish Independent's rip off yesterday's Bloomberg follow up, which is dated October 14th (yesterday):..

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Bank holiday review: blue is the colour, football is the game...

Let's face it - one of the biggest busiess/sport/politcial (?) stories of the weekend was the The Sunday Times mega scoop about Roman Abramovich hiring advisers from Raine to carry out a "strategic review" (banker parlance for sale) of Chelsea Football Club after receiving multiple bids...

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That Esure bid - a backjobber's dream...

So, the idea that "nothing happens" in the London market during August has been scotched once again by a £1.2 billion takeover bid for insurer Esure from private equity firm Bain Capital.

And there were few hacks this morning claiming they "had" the scoop/story...last year, that is...

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Sunday review on a Monday: Luke Johnson on WeWork

Betaville wasn't too impressed with Luke Johnson's columns when he first arrived at The Sunday Times several years ago.

However, the entrepreneur, investor and now journalist has managed to turn it around, churning out some real humdingers in recent weeks.

Indeed, this website particularly enjoyed this weekend's cynical piece by Luke on WeWork, the shared co-working space. Below is a link to the column:..

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Argo Blockchain poised to start trading...

Shares in a company that wants to be the first cryptocurrency business to list in London are set to begin trading tomorrow.

Stock in Argo Blockchain, which hopes to mine for crypto currencies, is likely to begin changing hands on the London Stock Exchange at around 16p tomorrow, said sources claiming to be familiar with the matter...

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Pro European City types cook up new British advocacy group / political party - The Series Returns...

Loyal readers will be aware that this website was one of the first "media organisations" to flag up the story about how powerful business people with cash and connections to politicians, such as Roland Rudd, are looking to back a Pro European centrist group interested in establishing a new political party following the dreaded Brexit. Below is a link to the original piece and follow up in the The Sunday Times...

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Damaged Goods: The Inside Story Of...-Part 6

There is an intriguing little diary piece in today's The Times about how a mystery property tycoon with a penchant for the Latin phrase Veni Vidi Vici has bought 200 copies of Oliver Shah's new tome about Sir Philip Green and is handing them out to friends, business acquaintances and colleagues.

Below is a link to Dom Walsh's City people diary column:..

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China outbound M&A. A second wave coming...? - Part 3

Below is a link to a great scoop by John Collingridge, now deputy editor of The Sunday Times business section, about how China General Nuclear is trying to buy a stake worth £4 billion in Britain's nuclear power stations from Centrica and EDF.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/business/chinas-cgn-eyes-stake-in-uk-nuclear-stations-rll8f0lp9..

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China outbound M&A. A second wave coming...?

Are the Chinese about to unleash another round of dealmaking for European businesses?

A couple of years ago some of China's largest companies attempted unprecedented deals for western corporates - e.g. Anbang's $14 billion bid for Starwood Hotels - and, of course, well-known top flight football clubs...

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Damaged Goods: The Inside Story Of...-part 5

Sir Philip didn't make it down to yesterday's legendary launch (was he ever invited?) at Fortnum & Mason.

But there were few other business big hitters there to congratulate Oliver Shah on his brilliant new tome, including John Lovering, the fomer Debenhams chairman, Luke Johnson, former chairman of Pizza Express and Amanda Staveley, the Mayfair-based bank and football club dealmaker...

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Damaged Goods: The Inside Story Of...-part 4

Betaville's just heading off to a certain launch party for a book about a certain retail tycoon by a certain newly-appointed business editor of a business section of a Sunday newspaper.

If that isn't a giveaway then let me tell you straight - it's the launch party of Oliver Shah's book on Sir Philip Green, which is being held at Fortnum and Mason, which is in a smart part of Central London...

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Damaged Goods: The Inside Story Of...-part 3

It's out!

Yes, that's the book being penned by a certain hack at The Sunday Times about a well-known retail tycoon.

For legal reasons, Betaville can't really get into the nitty gritty of the book but click on the link below if you want to know who the tome is about and how to order it on Kindle:..

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Another one bites the dust...

Sad news: Iain Dey, business editor of The Sunday Times, is leaving business journalism for the world of financial PR.

His departure from the trade follows a long line of Betaville's former Telegraph colleagues - such as Damian Reece, James Quinn and Jonathan Sibun - joining the somewhat better paid (and, I suspect, better hours) world of corporate communications...

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A Kiwi quelle surprise...

Take a bow Dan Dunkley (who as far as I'm aware is down in New Zealand somewhere).

Dan, who Betaville had the pleasure of working with at several publications, last year revealed in The Sunday Times that GlaxoSmithKline was preparing to buy out its joint venture partner, Novartis, to get control of their consumer healthcare division. Below is a link to Dan's piece:..

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Damaged Goods: The Inside Story Of...-part 2

So, it would appear Sebastian Shakespeare of the Daily Mail was quicker off the mark than Betaville readers.

The gossip columnist figured out pretty quickly which retail tycoon is the focus of the new page turner and led his top diary column with the story in the newspaper today. I have pasted a link below:..

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Another skewering...

Take a bow Oliver Shah, City Editor at the The Sunday Times...

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Shares go down; shares go up...

There seems to be only one story the world's financial press cares about this week: the rout and rallies of global equity markets.

So, if your looking for a bit of perspective on the whole affair Betaville suggests reading this piece (link below) published in The Sunday Times late last year...

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M&A hack walks into the sunset...or more like the other side of the world

So farewell Dan Dunkley, The Sunday Times deals reporter who Betaville has had the pleasure of working with at several different publications.

Some of Dan's memorable M&A scoops include revealing: the detail of Mediclinic's bid £1.3 billion bid for Spire Healthcare; Aveva's merger Schneider Electric; and unveiling Li Ka Shing's attempt to buy O2 from Telefonica for £9 billion.

I have pasted the links to Dan's scoops below:..

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Another day, another confirmation...

Avid followers of Betaville's work might have noticed a scoopette in this weekend's section of The Sunday Times about Accrol, the loo-roll maker, plotting an £18 million equity fundraising. Below is the link in case you missed it:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/business/lidls-loo-roll-maker-accrol-flushes-out-18m-rescue-phv3kcbbm..

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The return of the former Kaupthing dealmaker and pants on fire...

Below is a link to Andrew Lynch's Prufrock column in The Sunday Times business section.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/business/carney-makes-case-for-capitalism-83l87t8m0..

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Another day, another deal confirmed...

I broke the story back in January in The Sunday Times about 3i hiring NM Rothschild to flog Hobbs (see the link below), so it's good to see a deal with South African group Foschini has finally been confirmed.

Below is the link to the piece I wrote earlier this year:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hobbs-on-the-block-kq9nc739x..

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Billionaire broker on rates, recession and the Governor...

Followers of my work might have noticed a piece in this weekend's The Sunday Times quoting Peter Hargreaves, the billionaire founder of Hargreaves Lansdown, with his views on where stock markets might go next given they are flirting with record highs. Below is the link in case you missed it:..

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Revealed: Saudi Arabian diplomat takes legal action over £25 million for 'missing skyscraper' - part 2

Tucked away on page 3 of the news pages of today's business section in The Sunday Times is a little item from one of my favourite hacks, the multi award winning Oliver Shah, about how Credit Suisse and a Saudi Arabian diplomat have settled a multi-million pound lawsuit over an investment in involving a skyscraper development in London's Docklands. Here is the link:..

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Is the tide turning for Odey the Brexiteer? - part 17

The football scores are in (also known as the HSBC Hedge weekly returns). And it would appear the Odey European Fund has crept back onto the top 20 loserboard - Crispin's flagship fund is now down 7.82pc for the year to April 21, 2017, according to HSBC.

The news comes after The Sunday Times Rich List, compiled by the excellent Robert Watts, revealed last weekend that the charming buffer had slipped down that particular league table, losing £125 million last year...

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Sunday review

There weren't too many M&A scoops in the business sections this weekend but having worked for The Sunday Times, the Mail on Sunday and The Sunday Telegraph I know how some weeks it can be extremely tough digging out humdinger deal jackanories. They are a bit like buses - you wait for ages and then suddenly three come along in one go...

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Sunday review

There were a couple of pieces that caught my eye in today's Sunday newspaper business sections.

Most intriguing was a comment piece written by Iain Dey, business editor of The Sunday Times, about how Exxon Mobil might rekindle its interest in FTSE 100-listed oil giant BP. Regular Betaville readers will know this is a topic little old Betaville has broached in the past. Anyway, if you missed Iain's excellent column I have pasted the link below:..

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How Sir Philip Green, a BBC business editor and ailing retailer helped an intrepid young hack win business and finance journalist of the year award at the Press Awards

Congratulations to Oliver Shah, City Editor over at The Sunday Times.

Olly, a sometime colleague, last night got his just deserves for his series of brilliant scoops about Sir Philip Greed, the strange sale of BHS to Dominic Chappell for a £1 and the evenutal collapse of the business.

Most importantly, Olly's scoops, stories and investigative features played a large part in Sir Philip coughing up £363 million for the BHS pension scheme...

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Pro-European City types cook up new British advocacy group / political party - part 2

Re-visiting the British Sunday newspapers on a Monday is one of my favourite things to do as I often discover nuggets of info I failed to spot over the weekend when I'm scouring the business sections...

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Sunday review - Davos, Bovis Homes Group and Berkeley Group Holdings

I used to dread the Davos Economic Forum when I worked at The Daily Telegraph. That's because the higher ups would swan off for a week of "networking" in the Swiss Alps leaving the middle rankers (like me) to pick up the slack in the office...

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The week ahead: Berkeley Group, Poundland and, er, that's it

As regular readers of my work can imagine, I was rather busy yesterday (see yesterday's The Sunday Times). So, a few jackanories fell by the wayside during yesterday's mayhem.

One of those things was a story I was trying to stack up about Berkeley Group, the London-focused housebuilder that has been heavily shorted by hedge funds over the last few months...

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Sunday review - IHG/Panmure Gordon

Undoubtedly, Daniel Dunkley's story in today's The Sunday Times about Anbang Insurance weighing a £7 billion takeover bid for InterContinentalhotels is one of the biggest corporate scoops of the weekend. Here is the link to Dan's piece:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/business/chinese-line-up-7bn-swoop-on-holiday-inn-giant-8r7bbgs68..

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Quelle Surprise: Rank, 888 Holdings and William Hill confirm this weekend's jackanory

Oh look - gaming companies Rank, 888 Holdings and William Hill have all finally confirmed my tale in this weekend's The Sunday Times about how Rank and 888 have been talking about merging with a view to then combining with William Hill.

Here are links to the announcements on the RNS:..

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Skewered

Once again Oliver Shah comes up a with more cracking stuff on the BHS saga in today's The Sunday Times. Here is a link to today's scoop:

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/business/revealed-greens-plan-to-split-empire-with-chappell-q8zvwrf5v..

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Bank holiday review

Working at a British national newspaper over a bank holiday weekend can be particularly torturous. That's because, typically, there aren't many cracking business stories to be followed over a 72 hour period in which British markets have shut down...

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