A Quindell update

Quindell has just put out a strategic update. In case you have missed it, I have pasted the announcement below.

Another day, another multibillion pharma deal - new series

Bloomberg has just pumped out this story:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-25/pharmacyclics-said-to-weigh-sale-of-15-billion-u-s-drugmaker

It's an interesting read...

Sunday review on a Wednesday

Apologies for my tardy Sunday review but just thought I would offer a hat tip to Oliver Shah over at The Sunday Times.

Oliver landed the story about David Potts, the former head of Tesco's Asian business, being lined up as the next chief executive of WM Morrison

Aussie lawyers Slater & Gordon in exclusive talks to buy Quindell's legal services division - part 12

Apologies for the late posting Betavillers - I was out all day.

Anyway, I see Quindell has effectively confirmed my story from the weekend.

Aussie lawyers Slater & Gordon in exclusive talks to buy Quindell's legal services division - part 11

I have had a few readers get in touch asking for an update on the Quindell situation, so here it is:

I'm told by excellent sources that talks between Slater & Gordon and Quindell (and also their investment banking advisers at Greenhill and NM Rothschild) about a deal for the Aim-listed company's legal services division are getting hot and heavy i.e very serious.

One more thing on SAB Miller.

This week I have been on the receiving end of some pretty spiky banter from rival hacks, analysts and other market practitioners following my piece on 3G and SAB Miller in the Mail on Sunday. In case you didn't see it, here is the link to that piece:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2953714/Burger-King-Brazilians-mull-audacious-75bn-bid-Foster-s-owner-SABMiller.html

A can of worms - part 5

Quelle surprise! Ball Corporation and Rexam have just announced a £4.3 billion recommend takeover offer. Here are the details from their announcement:

A can of worms - part 4

It sounds like Ball Corporation is about to announce a recommended £4.3 billion plus takeover offer for can maker Rexam.

Well today, at least, I had been hearing from top sources that a big transatlantic deal is set to be announced tomorrow morning. So, it didn't take long to work out it could be Ball making a formal offer for Rexam.

Happy birthday Betaville

It's been just over a year since I kicked off Betaville, a cheeky blog that likes to break serious business stories, dig up stock market gossip and crack a few jokes, too.

Now, I could talk about a whole bunch of brilliant things Betaville has done over the last twelve months but instead I will provide a link to a self-congratulatory piece I did over the New Year. Here is a link: http://betaville123.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/betaville-in-2014-and-what-happens-next.html

Back on Tip TV talking about Salix, 888, Bwin, Quindell and SAB Miller

Here is something to do on a rainy Monday afternoon in mid February. Click on the link to watch me talk about M&A on Tip TV:

http://www.tiptv.co.uk/archives/mergers-and-acquisitions-2/

More on Salix...

Interesting piece by Reuters late on Friday evening about how US healthcare group Endo International is interested in buying Salix, a takeover target for FTSE 100-listed Shire. Here is a link:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/02/13/us-endo-m-a-salix-exclusive-idUKKBN0LH2C020150213

Aussie lawyers Slater & Gordon in exclusive talks to buy Quindell's legal services division - part 10

Bryce Elder, the stock market reporter over at the Financial Times, had an interesting snippet on Quindell in his market report today.

Bryce wrote that Slater & Gordon, the Aussie law firm, has been looking for a private equity fund, such as Apollo, the US buy-out firm, to partner on an acquisition of some of Quindell's legal services unit. Here is a link to Bryce's report:

The auction of auctioneer - part 2

It sounds like the auction of Bonhams isn't going as smoothly as the ones carried out by the 200-year old auctioneer.

The owners of Bonhams hired Greenhill last year to look at "strategic options".

Back on Tip TV talking about Quindell, Smith & Nephew and Salix

Nick "the Moose" Batsford invited back on Tip TV today. We talked about Smith & Nephew, Salix and, of course, Quindell. Click on the link to see today's clip:

http://www.tiptv.co.uk/archives/review-of-the-weekend-financial-press/

A can of worms - part 3

Bankers are clambering all over of this £4 billion Rexam takeover deal.

I hear Credit Suisse and Bank of America Merrill Lynch have just been "restricted" from publishing equity research on Rexam, which typically means these banks have been retained as advisers on the deal.

A can of worms - part 2

Many apologies to Oscar Williams Grut, the stock market reporter over at The Independent and Evening Standard.

He, too, had the Rexam story in his stock market report this morning. Here is the link: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/sharewatch/market-report-arm-holdings-tops-bluechip-index-10024898.html

A can of worms

Rexam shares are up almost 7pc this morning.

I suspect the stock is reacting to comments in Gary Parkinson's stock market report in The Times today.

Aussie lawyers Slater & Gordon in exclusive talks to buy Quindell's legal services division - part 9

Here is an interesting snippet on the Quindell situation.

I am reliably informed that Andrew Grech, the managing director of Slater & Gordon, is arriving in the UK tomorrow from down under.

Alex on the money - again

The Alex cartoon strip in the The Daily Telegraph was once again highly amusing. Here is a link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/alex/?cartoon=11385507&cc=11383320

Indeed, I can't help but wonder whether Mark Carney might go through a whole term as Governor of the Bank of England without ever overseeing a major change in UK interest rates...

Aussie lawyers Slater & Gordon in exclusive talks to buy Quindell's legal services division - part 8

Quindell's share price has taken a pasting today, with the stock closing down 16pc to finish at around 70p.

It appears the market may have been spooked by the fact that Slater & Gordon failed to unveil an offer for Quindell's legal services division after seeing its exclusivity period "run out" on Friday.