Tuesday 30 June 2015

Sunday review on a Tuesday

Apologies for the delayed Sunday newspaper review Betavillers - I was away this weekend.

Anyway, I see that The Sunday Times business section was once again packed with several juicy deal-related scoops, including Oliver Shah's piece on Grainger and Crystal Amber, which was confirmed yesterday by the property company.

Monday 29 June 2015

Back on Tip TV talking about Grainger, Sky and Severn Trent

Moose (aka Nick Batsford from Tip TV) and I had a good chat this morning. In case you are interested, here is a link to today's clip:

http://www.tiptv.co.uk/archives/ma-weekly-update-2/

Thursday 25 June 2015

RARE ALERT: Daniel Stewart said to be close to raising £1 million via equity placing - part 2

I'm glad to see Daniel Stewart confirm my tale from last night. In case you had missed it, I have pasted the announcement from the stockbroker below.

Daniel Stewart Secs

Subscription to raise £1.2million

RNS Number : 2020R
Daniel Stewart Securities PLC
25 June 2015

Wednesday 24 June 2015

RARE ALERT: Daniel Stewart said to be close to raising £1 million via equity placing

Daniel Stewart's shares crashed around 30pc today to about 2p.

I'm presuming the news regarding Quindell hasn't helped sentiment around the stockbroker (for readers that don't recall, Rob Terry, the former boss of Quindell is one of the stockbroker's largest shareholders).

Tuesday 23 June 2015

Here is another surprise - Rob Terry buys stake in Imaginatik - part 3

Good to see Imaginatik finally confirm that Rob Terry's investment vehicle now owns 3pc of the company.

Readers might recall I revealed last Friday that Quob Park Estate had been building a shareholding in Imaginatik.

Back on Tip TV talking about Ladbrokes, Severn Trent and Imaginatik

The boys over at Tip TV invited me back on the show today to discuss the latest "goings-on" in the UK M&A market.

Here is a link to today's clip:

Burmese Business - part 2

Remember that little Burmese social media company I wrote about a few weeks ago. If not, here is a link to the piece I wrote on MySQUAR to jolt your memory:

Monday 22 June 2015

Here is another surprise - Rob Terry buys stake in Imaginatik - part 2

Imaginatik has leapt another 35pc this morning to trade up at almost 8p.

Here is what the company said this morning following my story from last week:

Friday 19 June 2015

Here is another surprise - Rob Terry buys stake in Imaginatik

Readers who follow London's micro cap stocks might be wondering why Imaginatik has leapt over 70pc today.

Well, I understand Quob Park Estate - the investment vehicle run by former Quindell boss Rob Terry - has begun building a sizeable stake in Imaginatik, whose market cap stands at almost £5 million.

Thursday 18 June 2015

What's on the radar? - part 3

The venerable Financial Times is now reporting that reinsurance giant Arch is weighing a multi-billion dollar takeover bid for Axis Capital, which is trying to merge with Partners Re as part of a $12 billion deal.

Wednesday 17 June 2015

Now this is a surprise - Rob Terry buys massive stake in Daniel Stewart - part 5

Readers might recall that Daniel Stewart, the well-known City stockbroker, said yesterday it didn't know what was behind the recent share price gain of almost 50pc in the last week.

However, I have just picked up on the grapevine that Rob Terry - the former boss of Quindell and now one of Daniel Stewart's largest shareholders - was seen at the stockbroker's offices yesterday, having a meeting with chairman Peter Shea.

What's on the radar? - part 2

Insurer Axis Capital Holdings was in demand during yesterday's trading session in the US.

Axis's shares jumped as much as 6pc before settling a bit to close 4pc higher at around $57.

Tuesday 16 June 2015

Now this is a surprise - Rob Terry buys massive stake in Daniel Stewart - part 4

Shares in Daniel Stewart are sharply up this morning, surging about 12pc at pixel time.

However, nobody appears to know why the stockbroker's stock is in such demand, including the company itself.

Monday 15 June 2015

What's on the radar?

Smith & Nephew, for a start.

Why? Because there is a growing expectation the US Federal Trade Commission will soon (possibly as early as this week) make up its mind on whether it will give the green light to Zimmer's purchase of rival Biomet for $13.4 billion.

Friday 12 June 2015

A Quindell update...

It's been a while since I have written anything on Quindell so I thought I would put together a piece for loyal Betaville readers and followers of the company.

Top sources tell me that Quindell - which recently completed the sale of its professional services division to Slater & Gordon for £640 million - has now received a takeover offer of between £20 million and £30 million for PT Health, a Canadian healthcare and rehabilitation services company.

Thursday 11 June 2015

Equity research

I see bankers at Bank of America Merrill Lynch were involved in helping the British government place some of its stake in the Royal Mail last night, raising around £750 million for taxpayers.

Funny that because I'm sure equity research boffins round Bank of America Merrill Lynch published an upbeat note the postal service operator just a few days ago, upgrading the stock to "overweight" and raising its target price from £5.00 to £6.00.

Tuesday 9 June 2015

Fosun said to have approached Alleghany about buying division/s; Swiss Re also believed to be circling US insurance group - part 2

I see The Insurance Insider is backing up one of my tales from a couple of weeks ago.

Readers might recall I wrote that Chinese group Fosun and insurance giant Swiss Re had both been sniffing around Alleghany after the US group hired Goldman Sachs to advise on strategic options. Here is a link to that piece: http://betaville123.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/fosun-said-to-have-approached-alleghany.html

Friday 5 June 2015

BOOM: Bloomberg reporting Liberty Global in talks with Vodafone about $200 billion plus merger - part 2

Apologies - I would have posted earlier but I have been out all day.

Anyway, I see Vodafone has responded to Bloomberg's story from last night about the FTSE 100 telecoms giant being in talks with Jon Malone's Liberty Global about a $200 billion plus merger.

Thursday 4 June 2015

BOOM: Bloomberg reporting Liberty Global in talks with Vodafone about $200 billion plus merger

Yes - Bloomberg is reporting tonight what I have written in the headline. Here is a link to the Bloomie story:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-04/vodafone-said-to-discuss-options-including-a-merger-with-liberty

Roche back in the market for deals, according to dealReporter; no comment re BioMarin and PTC Therapeutics

Avid followers of the dealmaking frenzy in the pharmaceutical sector might want to take a look at piece on Roche Holding published a few days ago by dealReporter.

The "intelligence" service got some good quotes from Roche chief financial officer Alan Hippe, who told dealReporter that the Swiss pharmaceutical giant is still/back in the market for acquisitions in areas that don't overlap with existing drug development plans/pipelines.

Wednesday 3 June 2015

Evonik Industries said to have lined up multi-billion EURO/CHF debt financing package for acquisition deal; Clariant primary takeover target

Clariant's shares were down almost 5pc yesterday after Evonik's largest shareholder appeared to shoot down the likelihood of the German company making a move on the Swiss chemicals group.

Here is a link to the Bloomberg piece on the topic: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-02/clariant-drops-as-evonik-owner-shoots-down-deal-speculation

Tuesday 2 June 2015

RARE ALERT: Evonik said to have rekindled EURO 25 billion merger with Royal DSM - part 5

As I suspected, Cash magazine has got the wrong end of the stick.

Today's weakness in Clariant's shares can largely be pinned to comments from Evonik's biggest shareholder, who appears to be playing down a deal to reporters at Bloomberg.

RARE ALERT: Evonik said to have rekindled EURO 25 billion merger with Royal DSM - part 4

Swiss chemicals company Clariant is taking a bit of a pasting this morning - shares down almost 4pc - thanks to Cash magazine, the Swiss media group that once attempted a piss poor hatchet on me after I broke the story about the Agnelli's interest in buying a stake in Swiss Re.

Monday 1 June 2015

Back on Tip TV talking about chip deals, the WSJ and Pfizer/Cellectis/BioMarin

Apologies for the tardy posting - I have been out all day looking for jackanories.

Anyway, here is today's Tip TV clip with the my pal Nick "Moose" Batsford.