William Hill’s largest shareholder, Parvus Asset Investment has reportedly been lobbying for the company’s sale since a failed merger bid by Amaya was rejected in October 2016.
Described as a “secretive hedge fund backed by the financier who waged activist campaigns against Volkswagen and Deutsche Börse,” the Sunday Times report said the investor has expressed interest in receiving other bids and is believed to have even proposed discussions between William Hill and GVC Holdings, late last year.
Despite a dip of GBP 20 million in expected group profit for the full year 2016, which the company attributed in part to a run of unfavourable football and horse racing results, Philip Bowcock, interim chief executive officer for William Hill believes key underlying trends remain positive and the company is confident in delivering a better performance in 2017 (see previous report).