Market caps

I see Birmingham-based manufacturer IMI snuck its out announcement about the appointment of Lord Robert Smith of Kelvin as its new chairman on Budget day - a good day to release information when you don't want to pesky hacks to dig into your press release as newsrooms are overloaded with economic and political stories from the Chancellor. See the link:

http://www.investegate.co.uk/imi-plc--imi-/rns/chairman-appointment/201503180700367131H/)

So Weir Group did end up offering some cash (sort of) to Metso shareholders

Sincere apologies - I forgot to highlight in my post earlier today that Weir Group offered some cash in its latest £8.5 billion merger proposal to Finnish engineer Metso.

Some readers might not remember that a few weeks ago when I suggested Weir Group might be willing to offer some cash to Metso as part of fresh takeover proposal for the business, the company went a tad ballistic, going on the record with a non-denial, denial to any news service that would listen.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch sees £80 billion worth deals vanish in two days

Dealmakers round at Bank of America Merrill Lynch must be feeling pretty sore right now.

Why? Well, rainmakers at the US investment bank have just seen about £80 billion worth of deals go up in smoke in the last 48 hours.

Back on Tip TV clip talking about Elliott and AstraZeneca, Metso and Gagfah

Sorry for the late posting Betavillers - I have been out and about all day.

Here is this morning's Tip TV clip: http://www.tiptv.co.uk/archives/tip-tv-highlight-ben-harrington-21-05-2014/.  The clip is worth watching if your interested in the Pfizer/AstraZeneca situation as I have picked up  some interesting gossip about AstraZeneca and US hedge fund Elliott.

More Weir Group gossip

Sorry for the lack of posts in the last couple of days. I have been busy scurrying around in the undergrowth (mainly pubs in City of London and Mayfair hotel bars) trying to dig up some jackanories for loyal Betaville readers.

There is potentially some interesting stuff coming up but I also stumbled across one historic tale that puts an altogether different spin on Weir Group's attempt to merge with Finnish company Metso to create an £8.5 billion industrial giant.

Not another Metso story!

Here's an interesting snippet I recently picked up about Weir Group's attempt to "merge" with Finnish company Metso.

Good sources have told me the maximum price Weir Group is willing to pay for Metso is EURO 28 a share.

Metso back under the spotlight - again!

I see Finnish engineering company Metso has today rejected Weir Group's £8.5 billion all-share merger proposal. Not much of a surprise there following last week's shenanigans on Betaville.

Weir Group said in its statement that it had offered 0.8400 shares per Metso share to the Finnish company's board.

Betaville gets back on Tip TV...and talks about Metso

Good news - Tip TV asked me back onto the show today to talk about M&A.

Here is a link to today's Tip TV clip: http://www.tiptv.co.uk/archives/tip-tv-highlight-ben-harrington-10-04-2014/

Metso back under the spotlight...

I have just picked up a rather interesting titbit about Weir Group's attempt to combine with the Finnish engineering company Metso.

Betaville readers will remember that I kicked off the story back in early March when some of sources told me "something is going on" with Metso and that FTSE 100-listed Weir Group may be looking to buy the business. Here is a link to the original story: http://betaville123.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/metso-under spotlight.html

Parkinson on top form - again

Gary Parkinson take a bow.

Gary, a market reporter over at The Times, and his colleague Robert Lea have just landed a cracking scoop about Weir Group trying to merge with Finland's Metso as part of an £8.5bn deal. Here is a link the piece: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/industrials/article4050660.ece

Metso under the spotlight

A Finnish company called Metso has caught my eye.

Metso shares were up 5pc yesterday and are up another 1.5pc today (readers should be aware the stock crashed at the beginning of the year).

There has been vague talk doing the rounds all week that there is "something going on" with Metso