Mounties pension fund said to be sniffing around BBA Aviation - part 2

Readers might be wondering what has happened to the potential bid for London-listed BBA Aviation that I wrote about a couple of months ago.

In case you don't recall, back in early March I revealed that PSP Investments, a pension fund that looks after money for the Canadian mounted police, had been talking to potential partners about launching a bid for BBA Aviation, the aviation services company. Here is the link:

Burnt fingers

Little old Betaville was somewhat wary of the Restaurant Group bid rumours going round the market in recent weeks.

So, I purposefully decided against airing the gossip on little old Betaville or elsewhere and now I'm rather glad that I didn't as the company has just issued another profit warning, sending the stock 20pc lower this morning.

Capital and Counties said to be close to £300 million Olympia deal

Here's a snippet on London-listed property company Capital and Counties.

I'm have been told by reliable sources that the FTSE 250-listed company is close to selling its exhibitions centre in Olympia.

Quelle Surprise: Sanofi makes $9 billion hostile approach for Medivation

There is some big news out this morning in the pharma/biotech world.

French drugmaker Sanofi has finally confirmed it's interest in purchasing US biotech Medivation - the Medivation takeover rumours were first aired on Tip TV a couple of months ago. Here is the link:

Mystery owner of gold plated super cars revealed - or not...

Remember the tabloid tale from a few weeks back about the gold plated supercars? In case you don't, here is the link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3513608/It-certainly-beats-hire-car-Britain-s-flashiest-tourist-flies-1million-plus-fleet-GOLD-supercars-Saudi-Arabia-London-holiday.html

Rob Terry said to up stake in Imaginatik; may try to get to 29pc, oust chairman or eventually bid - part 2

I see Quob Park Estate, Rob Terry's investment vehicle, has this morning confirmed by tale from yesterday, disclosing on the RNS that he now owns 8.67pc of software consulting company Imaginatik. Here is the link:

http://www.investegate.co.uk/imaginatik-plc--imtk-/rns/holding-s--in-company/201604270904094898W/

I would keep an eye on this situation as I would expect it to get quite fruity...

More Chinese whispers

Dom Walsh's piece on the Tui Hotelbeds auction caught my eye this morning.

Dom - the City's top leisure reporter over at The Times who knows his sector back to front - reports that the final round bidders for Hotelbeds are Cinven, Kuoni/EQT and a mystery Chinese bidder based in Shenzhen, China. Cinven is said to be leading the pack of bidders, according to an earlier Bloomberg report.

Rob Terry said to up stake in Imaginatik; may try to get to 29pc, oust chairman or eventually bid

Rob Terry is boosting his stake in Imaginatik, the AIM-listed "full service innovation company" (whatever that means).

For readers that don't recall, I revealed a few weeks ago that the controversial businessman and founder of Quindell started to re-build a stake, via his vehicle Quob Park Estate vehicle, in Imaginatik. Here is the link:

Back on Tip TV talking about Sports Direct, Actelion and Swedish Orphan

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy4EamEaJOI

Flag pole alert - part 8

Deal watchers looking for the next big FTSE 100 deal should read Ian King's excellent column in today's The Times.

According to the Sky News business supremo, high-level investment bankers have told the former The Times business editor that the next FTSE 100 takeover bid could be carried out by a Chinese bidder.

Sunday review; and Mike Ashley to save BHS?

Olly Shah, of The Sunday Times, and Neil Craven, of the Mail on Sunday, appear to be leading the coverage on this weekend's major business story - the potential collapse of department store chain BHS.

Here are links to their pieces:

Another non-denial, denial - part 2

And now the heavyweight wire services are battling it among themselves with non-denial, denial stories.

Yesterday Bloomberg revealed that:

Another non-denial, denial

Today's wire reports out of Switzerland made me chuckle.

Apparently, Jean-Paul Clozel, chief executive of Actelion, told Reuters that "there's been absolutely no offer" to takeover the company.

Lenders to M6 appoint UBS to run sale process; teasers out

I turned up a little titbit on the M6 toll road situation whilst on the rounds today.

The banks that took control of M6 signalled a couple a months ago they are plotting a sale of the business after taking control of the motorway from Aussie infrastructure fund Macquarie. Here are links to a Financial Times article and BBC piece on the topic.

Sandwiches

I see Pret a Manger - the up-market sandwich shop favoured by young bankers, hedge fund analysts and lawyers - has been basking in the glory of another set of strong results, with a significant amount of press coverage today. Here a few links:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1f48d7a6-0613-11e6-9b51-0fb5e65703ce.html#axzz46NTfCqyl

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/apr/19/pret-a-manger-sales-rise-as-vegetarian-range-
pleases-foodies

Exxon Mobil said to have abandoned £70 billion BP takeover deal - part 2

Wow - these "old" or "stale" deal stories are becoming quite fashionable.

Reuters has just unveiled an "exclusive" scoop revealing ChemChina made a multi-billion takeover approach for BG Group, which has just been bought by Royal Dutch Shell. Here is the link:

Back on Tip TV talking about BP, Medivation and Actelion

I hadn't been on Tip TV for a while and was starting to wonder whether Moose, the owner of the channel, had got fed up with me.

Last week, though, I got the call inviting me on the show today, so here is the link:

Exxon Mobil said to have abandoned £70 billion BP takeover deal

Kleinman, of Sky News, today published a rather intriguing story about a £6 billion takeover bid for J Sainsbury that has just been "abandoned". The thing is, the market never knew about this takeover bid in the first place.

Still, Kleinman's story is extremely detailed. If you haven't read it, click on the link below:

Another day, another HNA deal...

The Chinese travel conglomerate really does have a voracious appetite for deals involving any European travel-related companies.

Earlier this week, HNA unveiled a $1.5 billion takeover of Switzerland's airline catering company Gate Gourmet. That deal comes after HNA purchased baggage handler Swissport last year for £2.3 billion.

An economics scoop

The times they are a changin in the high-flying world of British economics journalism.

When I was young M&A reporter on The Daily Telegraph landing fact-based deal scoops I always used to wonder why economics journalists didn't attempt to do carry out a similar style of reporting.

Argus Media Group appoints bankers to carry out sale of up to £1 billion - part 6

This is a bit of a wrinkle on a wrinkle but since little old Betaville broke the Argus Media Group sale story late last year I thought it might be worth airing the wrinkle here.

There have been a few reports since I "revealed" a couple of weeks ago that Argus Media's advisers were narrowing the field of bidders to three or four for the final round.

Those Travis Perkins rumours

There was an interesting in line in the Daily Mail stock market report today about Wolseley merging with Travis Perkins. In case you haven's seen it, here is the link:

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-3534700/MARKET-REPORT-Fears-property-slump-hurt-housebuilders-Berkeley-Taylor-Wimpey-Persimmon-Barratt-taking-hit.html

Green Day

The Telegraph interview with the head of the Serious Fraud Office caught my eye as I was re-reading recent business coverage. Here is the link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/04/09/britains-anti-fraud-chief-david-green-battles-the-critics-and-ci/

Quelle Surprise: Relypsa said to have received approaches

US biotech Relypsa shot up 67pc on Thursday thanks to this (see below) Reuters piece:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-relypsa-m-a-idUSKCN0X42B3

Quelle Surprise: Rob Terry confirms he is rebuilding stake in Imaginatik

Oh look - I see my Rob Terry's outfit Quob Park Estate put a statement out last night after the market closed. The statement says his outfit now owns just over 5pc of Imaginatik, effectively confirming my tale from earlier in the week.

Here are links to the statement and my market report piece:

Canaccord Genuity wields the axe - part 3

It's tough times for the chaps in pin stripe suits at stockbroker Canaccord Genuity.

According to my mole, the Canadian broker - which is de-listing from the London Stock Exchange - has placed a blanket ban on silver service dining at its smart, wood-panelled dining rooms and restricted client lunches to sandwiches.

Multitasking

Clearly, the Panama Papers was one of the biggest stories around yesterday.

But I also note that Britain's Serious Fraud Office was getting a lot of attention from several publications, such as City AM. 

Weekend review on a Monday

My old mucker from my Telegraph days, James - "Quinny" - Quinn, had one of the best deal stories of the weekend after securing an on-the-record interview with Xavier Rolet, the boss of the London Stock Exchange.

Here is a link to Quinny's tale in the Sunday Telegraph about how the American exchanges would "slash and burn" the LSE:

2016's top Fool

Take a bow City AM for the best business April Fools story of 2016.

Yesterday, City AM (the London-based business free sheet) ran a story billed as an "exclusive" about how the "City of London of Corporation was drawing up plans to declare the financial district an independent city-state in the event of Britain voting to leave the European Union". Here is the link: