Back on Tip TV talking about Diageo, Axa and Swiss deals

It's been a while since I have had the opportunity to have a chat with my old friend Zak Mir, so if your interested in catching up on we had to say about dealmaking during the recent stockmarket rout click on the link below:

http://www.tiptv.co.uk/finance/ma-during-a-market-rout/

Shire's next deal could be "transformational" - part 4

This latest global stockmarket rout seems to have had little impact on the booming M&A market, with Betfair announcing a £5 billion merger with Paddy Power this morning and Schlumberger striking a deal to purchase Cameron International in the US for $14.8 billion.

Those deals come after RSA agreed a £5.6 billion sale to Switzerland's Zurich earlier this week.

Zurich smoked out - part 2

Bryce Elder's comments about Zurich's takeover of RSA aired on FT Alphaville's markets live this morning made me chuckle - he really is a witty writer (well, much more amusing than me, at least).

One thing, though, Bryce hasn't touched upon, yet, is Dunbar and whether the RSA board has taken a hard look at Zurich's former banking arm in the UK.

Something to take your mind of the China market rout - a Sunday review on a Monday

London-based investors, bankers and brokers are currently transfixed by the rout in Chinese markets.

So, I thought I would look back over some of the Sunday newspaper's business sections for those markets participant that might want to take their mind off crashing stockmarkets.

August off?

So, the lads (and ladettes) over FT Alphaville duped me into thinking they had taken August off.

Clearly not! Yesterday, FT Alphaville landed another interesting story about a potential $6 billion takeover of a US-listed software company called Solera (Bloomberg also reported something similar around the same time). Here is the link:

The Scottish entrepreneur, the premium gunmaker and the Turkish concrete firm

It's pretty quiet in the London market during the dog days of August, so I thought I would inform loyal readers about this little deal I stumbled across that involves the reclusive entrepreneur Dr Jim Hay, who heads one of Scotland's wealthiest families.

For readers unfamiliar with Dr Hay, he worked at BP for almost 30 years before founding JMH Group, a construction and lifestyle company whose upmarket brands include Saville Row taylor Bernard Weatherill, gunmaker Ray Ward and French hunting lodge Parc de Launay.

Back on Tip TV talking about Shire, Grainger and Stobart Group

Apologies for the delayed posting of the latest Tip TV session - I was travelling yesterday.

In case you missed the show, here are my views and insight on what came up in the UK Sunday business press last weekend:

Quindell close to appointing Peel Hunt as broker; figures/accounts expected to be unveiled immently - part 3

Oh look - I see Quindell this morning has confirmed the other half of my story from a couple of weeks ago regarding Peel Hunt's imminent appointment as corporate adviser/broker.

In case you have missed the announcement, click on the link below:

The twitterati on a quiet Friday afternoon in the London market during August

Dom Walsh over at The Times has been tweeting about the Bwin takeover tussle between 888 and GVC. Here is what the top leisure reporter has picked up:

Dominic Walsh ‏@walshdominic  1 hr1 hour ago

888 Holdings appears to be having trouble syndicating a $600m loan for its Bwin bid amid uncertainty created by GVC's impending counterbid

3i said to have hired NM Rothschild to flog Element for up to a $1 billion

Here's an interesting snippet for those in the London market that follow 3i.

The listed private equity firm should see some cash coming in soon as I understand 3i has hired NM Rothschild to sell Element Materials Technology, a Dutch testing a business, for between $600 million and a $1 billion.

The Heron, the residents association and the yuan

The London property market is a bit like marmite - you either can't get enough of it or you hate it.

If your in the latter camp, then don't bother to read this post. But if you are in the former, then check out this amusing tale.

The Flying Scotsman is on fire...

It's a shame the boys - Bryce Elder and Paul Murphy - over at FT Alphaville's markets live have decided to take the summer off as they would have been able to bask in the glory of having another one of their stories confirmed.

US-based Shenandoah Telecommunications Company has finally announced it's buying Ntelos for $9.25 a share - exactly the same price Bryce Elder, who recently broke the story about Zurich weighing a £5 billion bid for RSA, mentioned in his scoop back in May.

Betaville back from the Basque country; Stobart Group in focus

Apologies I wasn't able to do Tip TV this morning. I was returning from the Basque country, where I spent the weekend scoffing delicious dishes, such as cod omelette, and quaffing local cider, wine and beer.

In fact, if you like consuming food and wine/cider/beer and enjoy beautiful cities, I highly recommend visiting this north east corner of Spain and south west corner of France.

Quindell close to appointing Peel Hunt as broker; figures/accounts expected to be unveiled immently - part 2

Good to see Quindell confirm the majority of my snippet from a couple of days ago. In case you hadn't noticed, here are links to Quindell's latest figures and accounts:

http://www.investegate.co.uk/quindell-plc--qpp-/rns/2014-results-announcement---part-1/201508051140031746V/

and

Village gossip - Former Financial News owner lambasts SNP's economic policies; considers quitting Scotland

Whilst scurrying around in the undergrowth I stumbled across this rather interesting letter to the Scottish National Party from Angus MacDonald, the former proprietor of Financial News.

Angus - a proud Highlander who gave me one of my first jobs back when I was fresh faced graduate in the early noughties - has taken the unusual (for him, at least) step of airing some fairly strident views on the Scottish National Party's economic policies. The former Army man also says he is considering selling his house and re-locating down south.

Quindell close to appointing Peel Hunt as broker; figures/accounts expected to be unveiled immently

Loyal readers have probably been wondering when Quindell - whose shares have been suspended for the last few weeks following an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority - will come back to the market.

Well, I understand Quindell is on the verge of making Peel Hunt its broker.

Shire's next deal could be "transformational" - part 3

I have just returned from a jolly nice lunch with an investment banker chum to discover that Shire has launched a $30 billion hostile takeover for US rival Baxalta - wow!

Here is a link to the press release:

http://www.investegate.co.uk/shire-plc--shp-/prn/shire-proposes-combination-with-baxalta/20150804123000P8565/

Back on Tip TV talking about Shire, InterContinential Hotels Group and RSA

It's a Monday, so here is a link to today's session on Tip TV.

(p.s. ignore the headline on the clip as it's a bit out of date because Tip TV are moving onto a new website platform).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK6X3O05IkM