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 ben@betaville.co.uk. 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.
Betaville's chums from The Blind Spot - https://the-blindspot.com - invited me back onto their Markets Live session today.
The charming Izabella Kaminska and I talked about all sorts of things ranging from inflation to the odd UNCOOKED rumour. Below is a link to the transcript in case you missed it:..
US-listed IT services company DXC Technology has finally confirmed what little old Betaville has been banging on about during September - that the company is "in play".
In case you don't recall, little old Betaville was the FIRST media outfit to reveal DXC was/is back at the centre of a renewed round of takeover speculation at the beginning of last month. Below is the link and the follow ups suggesting one of the private equity firms circling the company is KKR:..
It's been a while since the London market has seen an good old fashioned stakebuilding in a FTSE 100-listed company by wily entrepreneurs.
So Betaville perked up when chums got in touch to point out that L&R Ventures, a vehicle controlled by canny billionaire property tycoons Ian and Richard Livingstone had built a 3.5pc stake in Whitbread, the owner of budget hotel company Premier Inn...
Mark "the Kleinmanator" Kleinman of Sky News is on a bit of a roll.
Yesterday, he smoked out a confirmation following his scoop about Vodafone's talks to merge with rival 3 in the UK and just now he has published a story about HSBC working with advisers from JP Morgan to find a buyer for its Canadian division.
Below is a link to this morning's story in case you missed it:..
Dealmaking stories were few and far between in this weekend's British Sunday newspapers.
There was, though, one story that did stand out - a tale from Amy-Jo Crowley of the Mail on Sunday about how some big buy out firms are trying to buy Abderdeen-based energy consulting group Wood Mackenzie out of US-listed Verisk Analytics...
It only took six months but Atos, the ailing France-listed IT services company, has finally confirmed it has received a takeover offer for its cybersecurity division.
Yesterday, the company said Onepoint, a French technology company, and FTSE 100-listed private equity outfit ICG had teamed up together to offer €4.2 billion for its “Evidian” unit.
Yes, you read that correctly - €4.2 billion...
There was some interesting follow up yesterday of little old Betaville's UNCOOKED ALERT about DXC Technology, the US-listed IT services business.
StreetInsider.com reported that DXC is in talks about a buy-out of the business valuing it at $45 a share. Below is the link:..
The M&A tipsters in the British national business press are out in force this week.
Yesterday, it was Bloomberg talking up the prospect of dealmaking, citing the likes of BT Group as a potential takeover target. Below is the link:..
Stockmarket bears have picked a good day to maul TrueCaller, Sweden-listed smartphone application and spyware firm.
Bearish rumours about TrueCaller have been circulating for a few weeks but the now the cat appears to be out of the proverbial bag.
If you want the whole story go visit Viceroy Research, the short selling research outfit. Below is the link:..
Charming Crispin Odey can't seem to catch a break - well, in the mainstream media at least.
Since 2015 he took a shoeing in the press for the terrible performance of his (ironically named) Odey European Fund fund over the last decade amid his prognistcations of doom...
One of America's largest private equity houses is rumoured to be interested in buying DXC Technology, the US-listed IT services group.
Last week, Bloomberg reported that DXC had been approached by at least one private equity firm.
People following the situation had heard talk KKR & Co is one of the buy-out houses that is looking at DXC.
However, it's not clear whether DXC is open to a deal with a private equity house...
So, London-listed environmental consultancy RPS Group has caught a counter bid - although not from who little old Betaville was initially expecting (see UNCOOKED ALERT: Stantec Inc ... https://betaville.co.uk/betaville-intelligence/d427eiji/).
Late on Friday California-based Tetra Tech struck a deal with RPS's board to buy the company for 222p a share. Below is a link to this morning's press release:..
Mark "The Kleinmanator" Kleinman of Sky News has been all over the Pendragon on - off bid talks over the last twelve months.
So, I guess it isn't a surprise that Kleiny, one of Betaville's former colleagues on The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph City desks, has dug out another scoop on the situation...
Ben Marlow of The Daily Telegraph, little old Betaville's former employer, has written a lengthy opinion piece on Vodafone.
Let me sum it up for you: if Vodafone doesn't do something quickly to arrest its flagging share price (down almost 50pc over the last five years) it could well easily become a takeover target for one of the "wealthy American telecom giants"...
Arch rivals at the financial media behemoth Bloomberg have finally jumped onto the story about a deal cooking at DXC Technology, the US listed technology company.
According to hacks at Bloomie, "DXC Technology has been approached by at least one private equity firm" and the company is now talking to investment bankers with a view to appointing one to deal with the inbound bid interest...
French telecoms tycoon Xavier Niel, founder of Iliad, has built a 2.5pc stake in FTSE 100-listed Vodafone. Below is a link to this morning's statement.
GB Group's shares have perked up almost 4pc this morning.
If you are wondering why then look no further than an article published in the Mail on Sunday over the weekend.
Intrepid hackettes Amy-Jo Crowley and Francesca Washtell revealed that several private equtiy firms are circling GB Group, the London-listed indentity intelligence company, after little old Betaville's orginal UNCOOKED Alert...
[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].