Hard on the heels of the £4 billion bid from GVC for Ladbrokes Coral announced before Christmas, a subtle adjustment from a major stakeholder in William Hill has been enough to send city traders into a veritable frenzy of speculation. This has a lot to do with the history between Will Hill and this particular stakeholder, Parvus Asset Management, who reduced their stake from 13% down to 12% this week. This is the sixth in a chain of reductions seen since their peak in June at 17.2%, and word in London is that this may be an indicator that William Hill may intend to seek a merger in the near future. After all, it was hedge fund Parvus who insisted the most loudly that they give up on a proposed £5 billion merger with the Stars Group (previously Amaya) back in 2016.
Along with some other upticks experienced recently by the firm, shares are up 15% in the trading update. The recent appointment of Roger Devlin has certainly not hurt William Hill’s outlook, as Devlin is widely considered a safe pair of hands due to his long standing in the industry. Over the past year Will Hill has seen its net debt drop by a large margin, and despite the shadow of FOBTs maximum stake climbdown looming over the operator, it is still positioned as a major player in the UK gambling sector. Still, the very real threat of pending regulatory changes in the year ahead may well give an added impetus for the firm to seek partnership with another strong brand, much as Ladbrokes has done with GVC.
