A bid from William Hill, the biggest gambling company in the UK, has shot up the shares of online gaming group 888 by 24%, the Guardian reported. The William Hill bid is rumored to be for as much as $1.144 billion.
888, owned by Israeli tycoon families Shaked and Ben Yitzhak, is holding back on the sale, with Shaked looking for the bidder to up the offer from about $3.2 to $4.6 per share.
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“The board of the company confirms that it received an approach regarding a possible offer for the company by William Hill, ” 888 said in a statement. “There can be no certainty, however, that any firm offer will be made.”
Panmure Gordon analyst Karl Burns told Reuters he doubted William Hill would raise the offer.
“I think there is a good chance that the deal may not go through … it would stretch their (William Hill’s) balance sheet to a degree that they may have to raise capital as well, ” he said.
