Sportingbet turns down combined Will Hill-GVC offer

The UK newspaper The Sunday Times reported over the weekend that online gambling group Sportingbet plc has rejected an acquisition offer of GBP 350 million from William Hill plc and GVC plc.

The 52.5p-a-share proposed bid from the two gambling groups will probably be the subject of a Management comment when Sportingbet plc reports full-year results on Wednesday.

Sportingbet, which was previously a bid target for bookmaker Ladbrokes, has seen its shares surge around 16 percent since speculation over the talks was confirmed by all three companies last week .

At that time Sportingbet plc advised its shareholders not to act precipitously.

Under stock exchange regulations, William Hill and GVC must declare a firm intention to make an offer by October 16, leaving the companies with room to negotiate further and possible up the ante.

Sportingbet is forecast by Edison Research to report profits of GBP 34.5 million, down GBP 3 million on a year earlier but with expectations that the performance will improve in the current year on the back of strong Australian trading.

The company has more than 2.5 million registered customers in 200 countries, who place more than one million bets a day.