5% Stake In William Hill Sold To Silchester

The offer of a William Hill free bet is always an enticing one, and they have long been a favourite of UK punters thanks to their special promotions. It seems they are also an attractive option for investors, as private equity firm Silchester have decided to purchase a 5% stake in William Hill Plc.

Silchester, a company based in London, are now the fourth largest shareholder of the FTSE-listed operator. Stephen Butt is the fund manager and is considered to be one of London’s best investors.

Silchester also owns stakes in companies within other industries, such as supermarket chain Morrisons.

They obviously see value in William Hill, and traditionally Silchester are a company that specialises taking ‘long-hold’ positions on businesses which they deem to be undervalued.

It has not been plain sailing for the bookmaker in the last few years, as they have been massively affected by high operational costs, an increase in taxes and the decline in performance of their digital assets. All of these factors combined have seen their share price drop to 244p.

This all comes at at interesting time, as we are awaiting potential curbs on fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) staking. If restrictions were to be put in place, it would have a huge impact on the industry as a whole.

Mixed Financial Results

Earlier this month, William Hill announced mixed financial results for the first half of 2017. The good news is, revenue was up 3% year-on-year. On the flip side their adjusted operating profit was down 1%.

There have been problems with the board at William Hill and their other shareholders before, such as hedge fund Parvus Asset Management who have a 14% stake in the company. In 2016, their lead financier Mads Eg Gensmann was very critical of the board’s decision to pursue a three-way tie up with Amaya Inc and Rank Group Plc.

It remains to be seen how this deal will affect the company in the long run, but whatever happens it appears that the constant bookmaker promotions will continue to be listed. Current offers such as 4 Means More and Acca Five Insurance give us a great chance of keeping profits coming in through matched betting.

Here at Matchedbets.com, we will take you through how to use each offer to your advantage.