Qataris and Blighty

Wow - the Qataris really have got an affinity for old Blighty!

Qatar Airways has just said it has bought a 9.9pc stake in our very own British Airways, also known as IAG.

Aussie lawyers Slater & Gordon in exclusive talks to buy Quindell's legal services division - part 7

So, I think I said earlier in the week the Quindell takeover situation was likely to liven up. Well, it has livened up.

I hear Quindell held a full board meeting yesterday at which directors discussed appointing bankers from NM Rothschild to advise the company ahead of a potential offer from Australian law firm Slater & Gordon for the AIM-listed group's legal services unit.

Aussie lawyers Slater & Gordon in exclusive talks to buy Quindell's legal services division - part 6

I just thought I would clarify a few things on the Quindell takeover situation following last week's shenanigans on Betaville.

I have had a few readers raise questions about the £15 million that I previously reported Slater & Gordon paid to enter into "exclusivity" to buy Quindell's legal services division.

Back on Tip TV talking about BHS, Aer Lingus and Quindell

It's a Monday, so I was invited back onto Tip TV to talk about the weekend's deal stories and other bits and pieces.

Here is a link to today's clip: http://www.tiptv.co.uk/archives/talk-on-phillip-greens-plans-iag-and-quindell/

Sunday review

Huge hat tip to Oliver Shah over at The Sunday Times for his scoop about Sir Philip Green putting BHS on the market. Here is a link to Oliver's piece:

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Retail_and_leisure/article1510992.ece

Aussie lawyers Slater & Gordon in exclusive talks to buy Quindell's legal services division - part 5

Sorry this is a bit late in the day but I just thought I would put up Slater & Gordon's slightly odd confirmation to my story from a couple of days ago about how the Aussie group is in talks to buy Quindell's legal services division.

Here is a link to Slater & Gordon's statement:

Ruddy on Ashley

Graham Ruddick has written a particularly good viewpoint piece in this morning's Telegraph.

Graham - a jolly nice chap, a former colleague and one of the best young hacks I have ever worked with - attempts to unravel what maverick Mike Ashley is up to by shuffling his shareholdings about in Sports Direct.

Aussie lawyers Slater & Gordon in exclusive talks to buy Quindell's legal services division - part 3

Oh look - I see Quindell has just confirmed my story from last night. I have pasted the company's announcement below:

On 2 January 2015, Quindell Plc (AIM: QPP.L) announced it had entered into exclusivity arrangements in respect of the possible disposal of an operating division of the Group. The Company notes the speculation concerning the identity of the third party and can confirm that Slater & Gordon Limited ("S&G") is the party referred to in previous announcements.

Aussie lawyers Slater & Gordon in exclusive talks to buy Quindell's legal services division - part 2

So, here are some of the (eye-popping) numbers being talked about for Slater & Gordon's purchase of Quindell's legal services division.

To start with, when talks first began I am told by sources that Slater & Gordon said it will pay a non-refundable £15 million to enter into exclusive discussions with Quindell.

Aussie lawyers Slater & Gordon in exclusive talks to buy Quindell's legal services division

Here is a juicy jackanory - top sources inform me that listed Australian law firm Slater & Gordon is in exclusive discussions to buy Quindell's legal services division.

I understand Slater & Gordon, one of the first law firms to go public, has been working with advisers from Greenhill on the purchase of QLS.

A remarkable coincidence

I see Reuters is reporting US pharmaceutical company Salix has hired bankers from Centreview Partners to look at strategic options. Here is a link:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/20/us-salix-sale-exclusive-idUSKBN0KT27E20150120

Trains, football clubs and Chinese billionaires

It appears Chinese property giant Dalian Wanda has put its plans to purchase a Premier League football club on hold.

The Financial Times is reporting that Dalian Wanda, controlled by billionaire Wang Jianlin, is set to pay EURO 40m to EURO 45m for a 20pc stake in Spanish champions Atletico Madrid. Here is a link to the Financial Times article:

Back on Tip TV talking about Telefonica, Shire and Afren

Moose (Nick Batsford) invited me back onto Tip TV this morning and let me ramble almost uninterrupted for 10 minutes. Here is a clip of today's monologue on M&A by me:

http://www.tiptv.co.uk/archives/latest-from-the-world-of-ma/

Volatile Afren - part 2

ZhenHua Oil. That is the name of the "mystery" Chinese company I referred to in yesterday's blog post, according to my reliable sources.

Here is a link to yesterday's post: http://betaville123.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/volatile-afren.html

Volatile Afren

Wow - embattled oil explorer Afren has leapt 33pc to close at 28.7p!

The massive move higher comes after the stock plunged 30pc on Monday following news the company had overstated its oil reserves at licences in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Here is a link to a Financial Times piece on Monday's news: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b2b55bb0-9a79-11e4-8426-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3OmV9TqK0

RARE alert: PWC said to have completed first draft of Quindell review

If you are following the Quindell saga, I picked up another interesting titbit on the insurance claims group yesterday that I thought I might share with loyal readers.

Some of my top sources claim that auditors at PricewaterhouseCoopers have done the first draft of the "independent review" and so far no major issues have been found.

Catlin snippet

Here is an interesting snippet on XL Group's £2.7 billion takeover of Lloyd's of London insurer Catlin.

Catlin is registered in Bermuda - which means it doesn't have to adhere to the Takeover Panel's "Code" - but if you look at the "implementation agreement" section of last week's deal announcement you will that the Lloyd's of London insurer and XL Group have agreed to "observe and comply" with the provisions of the Panel's rules.

Another day, another Aer Lingus article

Bloomberg is really boosting its coverage of the Aer Lingus takeover situation. The newswire has just pumped out another article:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-13/ryanair-keen-to-sell-aer-lingus-stake-as-iag-considers-fresh-bid.html

Chinese interest in Premier League continues...

DJI Holdings, the Aim-listed Chinese lottery operator that I mentioned last week on Tip TV, has just announced it has signed a partnership contract with Manchester City Football Club. Here is a link:

http://www.mcfc.co.uk/News/Club-news/2015/January/DJI-holdings-announcement

I suspect this will be just the first of many interesting developments at DJI Holdings this year.

Curious

Bloomberg is today reporting that IAG is planning to raise its EURO 1.3 billion offer for Aer Lingus to EURO 2.50 a share. Here is a link to the story: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-12/british-airways-owner-iag-said-to-plan-higher-bid-for-aer-lingus.html

That's rather curious as I am sure I wrote late last week that IAG advisers have indicated the owner of British Airways is willing to offer between EURO 2.70 and EURO 2.85 to the Aer Lingus board.

A sort of weekend newspaper review

The biggest deal of the weekend never made it into any of the Sunday papers - Shire's $5.2 billion acquisition of US biopharmaceutical company NPS.

I dropped a big hint when I was working at The Sunday Times late last year that Shire was going to hit the acquisition trail and look at NPS again after AbbVie botched its merger deal. Here is a link to that piece: http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Companies/article1472664.ece

Stitch up

Hat tip to Harriet Agnew for producing a highly amusing "City insider" column in yesterday's Financial Times.

Harriet's titbit on the decision by private equity firm Pamplona Capital Management - whose advisers made my life extremely difficult when I was working on a story at The Daily Telegraph - to sell out of Lord Fink's Isam hedge fund packed a particularly witty punch.

RARE alert kicks off 2015 in style!

I see British Airways owner IAG has finally confirmed my first ever RARE alert, which was published on January 2, 2015.

The owner of British Airways has just said it raised its takeover offer for Irish airline Aer Lingus to EURO 2.40 a share on December 29, 2014. Here is a link: http://www.investegate.co.uk/intl-con-airline-grp--iag-/rns/statement-on-possible-cash-offer-for-aer-lingus/201501091822448405B/

Damp squib?

If Elliott Advisers voted against today's Scheme of Arrangement to take Prezzo private, then it looks like the American hedge fund lost out by a small margin.

According to today's press release, just over 20pc of Prezzo shareholders voted against the Scheme (typically, you need 75pc approval from shareholders).

Back on Tip TV talking about Aer Lingus, Quindell and DJI Holdings

It was great to be invited back onto Tip TV this morning and catch up Nick "The Moose" Batsford. Here is a link to today's clip: http://www.tiptv.co.uk/archives/2014-review-and-a-peek-at-some-upcoming-ma/

RARE alert: British Airways owner said to have raised indicative offer for Aer Lingus again, and again

Looking over this morning's coverage of yesterday's trading update from Aer Lingus it struck that little has been made of the shenanigans going on between the Irish carrier and its stalker IAG.

I hear from sources that since I published my first bit of RARE a week ago, IAG (or rather advisers to the owner of British Airways) have been going backwards and forwards with a variety raised indicative offers for Aer Lingus.

The rottweiler, the insurance business and Tip TV

Does Martin Hughes watch Tip TV?

The reason I ask is that Toscafund, Mr Hughes's investment firm, yesterday declared to the market it had bought a 5.4pc stake in beleaguered insurance claims processor Quindell. Here is a good Financial Times piece on the topic: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b4daab2e-9665-11e4-a40b-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3OEByBxBO

Elliott raises Prezzo stake to almost 14.5pc - yikes!

I think the Prezzo shareholder vote scheduled for this Friday at Olswang's offices is about to get rather fruity. Secretive hedge fund group Elliott Advisers has just now declared it owns a stake of almost 14.5pc in Prezzo and word is the fund was trying to gobble up more stock in the market today. Here is a link to Elliot's declaration:

http://www.investegate.co.uk/prezzo-plc--prz-/rns/holding-s--in-company/201501061608454566B/

RARE alert: British Airways owner said to have submitted raised Aer Lingus approach - part 3

For those readers following the IAG/Aer Lingus situation, there was more information in this morning's FT Alphaville markets live session. In case you missed it, here is a link:

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/marketslive/2015-01-06/

RARE alert: British Airways owner said to have submitted raised Aer Lingus approach - part 2

I see the Irish Independent is reporting that British Airways owner IAG has submitted a raised indicative offer for Aer Lingus, pitched at between EURO 2.40 a share and EURO 2.60 a share. Here is a link to the Irish Independent's piece: http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/aer-lingus-shares-rise-on-talk-of-renewed-iag-bid-30878537.html

I wonder what prompted the newspaper to write that story?

Predictions, predictions and predictions

It's that time of the year when commentators, analysts and hacks like to make predictions. But there have already been so many articles in the last few days about what might happen in 2015 that I'm not sure I'm going to be able to add much more to what has been already speculated.

Still, it's been almost a year since I launched Betaville, so I thought it might be worthwhile looking back at the highs - and a couple of lows - during 2014. You never know, looking back might be able to help you look into the future (wink, wink).

RARE alert: British Airways owner said to have submitted raised Aer Lingus approach

It's the new year, so I have decided to introduce a new concept to little old Betaville. It's called the "RARE" alert. The boys over at FT Alphaville have got their "RAW", so I am going to have my "RARE".

Readers might ask what is "RARE"? Well, it's market gossip that hasn't been tested through formal journalistic channels (public relations executives, bankers etc). The rumour might be total codswallop but then again there may be something in it, so it's worth airing on Betaville.

FTSE 100 review of 2014 - top ten risers and fallers

Happy new year Betavillers!

There are plenty of excellent stock market review pieces out this morning in British national newspapers. I particularly enjoyed Martin Waller's 2014 review of the FTSE 350 in the The Times. Here is a link to his piece: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/markets/article4311050.ece