William Hill Approached by 888 and Rank For Gambling Merger

William Hill approached by 888 and Rank for gambling merger

UK betting firm William Hill has been approached by rival gambling business 888 and Rank Group about a merger.

William Hill said it would "listen to and consider" any proposition.

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However, it was unclear that a mix of William Hill, 888 and Rank would "deliver exceptional worth", the company said, external.

Online operator 888 and Rank, the yohaig code UK's most significant casino chain, said they saw "substantial industrial logic in the combination".

William Hill stated the method was "extremely preliminary", while Rank and 888 said they had actually not yet made an official deal to the bookmaker's board.

Shares in William Hill increased 4.8%, while 888 shares increased 3.4% and Rank lost 0.5%.

'Surprise'

The move comes just days after William Hill's chief executive, James Henderson, was ousted from the UK's biggest betting shop operator following a series of profit warnings.

Mr Henderson, who took the helm in August 2014, had actually failed to deal with problems in the company's having a hard time online company.

In May, its latest trading upgrade, the firm said, external net revenues had fallen 11% in its online department in the 17 weeks to 26 April.

William Hill's shares have actually dropped 21% because the start of the year, valuing the previous FTSE 100 company at ₤ 2.7 bn.

David Jennings, an expert at Davy, said the news was "unquestionably a surprise, given that the combined value of 888 and Rank is ₤ 1.7 bn".

Rank and 888 said there was "no certainty that any deal will eventually happen".

Rank's president, Henry Birch, is a former head of William Hill's online division.

Under UK takeover rules, the companies have till 21 August to either make a company deal or leave.

The potential bid comes after William Hill attempted to obtain 888 in 2015 in a ₤ 720m deal, but the yohaig code deal collapsed after 888 rejected the deal as too low.

Since then, competing betting companies Ladbrokes and Gala Coral have actually concurred a ₤ 2.3 bn merger which got initial regulator approval in May.