Back on Tip TV talking about Home Retail Group, GlaxoSmithKline and General Growth Properties

Zak was in the chair today, probing me about Betaville and M&A.

Here is a link to today's clip:

http://www.tiptv.co.uk/finance/ma-roundup-argos-sainsburys-deal-on-a-knife-edge/

RARE Alert: Reckitt Benckiser said to be working with Robey Warshaw on major deal - part 2

It's good to see little old Betaville's RARE story about Reckitt Benckiser followed up in the British stock market reports this morning.

Just over a month ago I wrote that Reckitt was working with (which is different to formally appointing) uber bankers at Robey Warshaw on a major deal. Here is a link to that piece:

More GSK rumours from the Twitterati - part 2

Should I be surprised how these random Twitter rumours get out of control? Probably not.

But there are some readers who are now claiming that little old Betaville is reporting Johnson & Johnson is weighing a bid for GlaxoSmithKline.

More GSK rumours from the Twitterati

Here's an interesting Tweet from Open Outcrier:

Open Outcrier ‏@OpenOutcrier 43m43 minutes ago

$GSK Hearing vague takeover chatter mentioning JNJ as acquirer. Unconfirmed market chatter.

Back on Tip TV talking about GlaxoSmithKline, Home Retail Group and General Growth Properties

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

http://www.tiptv.co.uk/finance/m-sainsburys-bid-for-home-retail/

Sunday review

There were plenty of interesting stories in the Sunday newspaper business sections this weekend.

One tale, though, that caught my eye was the business splash of The Sunday Times.

Tuesday review - part 2

I should have mentioned this piece from the Financial Times - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3a26241c-81b0-11e5-8095-ed1a37d1e096.html#axzz3qQcDFYoP - in my earlier post.

It's bit of "old" news (the fact that Pfizer approached GlaxoSmithKline before Allergan) that hadn't made into the public domain. But as it has been shown here on little old Betaville, "old" news can often become "new" news, so in the right circumstances is definitely worth reporting. Hat tip, then, to the raft of FT hacks who discovered the "old" news.

Marlow cooks up another massive drugs deal

Ben Marlow's comment column in today's The Daily Telegraph caught my eye this morning. Not only is it a well written piece of prose but it also contains a story I myself had been chasing for the last month or so.

Ben's comment column - click on the link http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/11564744/If-its-Astra-bid-was-crazy-is-Pfizer-plotting-something-even-more-bonkers.html - appears to suggest US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is plotting a multi-billion bid for GlaxoSmithKline.

Fancy that - Europe's biggest drug makers said to bid for InterMune

Oh look, I see Bloomberg and Reuters are both reporting that InterMune has attracted several suitors, including GlaxoSmithKline, Actelion, Roche and Sanofi:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-13/europe-s-biggest-drugmakers-said-to-bid-for-intermune.html

InterMune said to be working with Evercore on strategic options

It sounds like this InterMune situation is heating up.

Good sources tell me InterMune - a US-based bio-pharmaceutical company that specialises in making a drug to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis - has begun working with bankers from Evercore alongside long-standing financial adviser Goldman Sachs to look at 'strategic options' for the business.

Another day, another multibillion pharma deal - part 2

Now that the £32 billion AbbVie/Shire deal looks to be "done" (or at least for the time being), it's time to look at another potential deal brewing in the sector.

I hear GlaxoSmithKline is in the early stages of examining a multi-billion dollar takeover bid for US-based biopharmaceutical company InterMune.