William Hill attracts two takeover approaches sending gambling shares surging     

William Hill has received separate cash proposals from the two groups.

Apollo Global Management and Caesars Entertainment have approached UK bookmaker William Hill about a potential takeover, the latest consolidation move in the betting industry.

William Hill has received separate cash proposals from the two groups, it said, but the talks are ongoing and there is no certainty that a formal offer will be made. Shares of the bookmaker surged as much as 41% in London trading for a market value of about £3.1bn (€3.39bn). 

Rival betting companies also rose, with Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment gaining as much as 6.7% and Ladbrokes owner GVC advancing as much as 15.5%. 

Apollo has a history of investments in the gambling sector. It teamed up with TPG for a 2008 leveraged buyout of Harrah’s Entertainment, which was later renamed Caesars. Last year, it also acquired a stake in Italy’s Gamenet. 

William Hill is already a partner of Caesars and the two are in discussions about merging some of their operations in the US, where the UK company is looking to build scale. It recently completed the purchase of CG Technology, a sports betting outfit spun off from Cantor Fitzgerald, in a deal that gave it sports book in Nevada.

“The US is the key attraction with William Hill” and “a value of about 300p per share is easily reached at present”, said Gavin Kelleher, an analyst at Goodbody. “Another interesting angle is the plans Apollo and/or Caesars have for the non-US part of William Hill.” 

Bloomberg