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William Hill shares rise as investor rejects merger plan | William Hill shares rise as investor rejects merger plan |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Shares in William Hill have risen after the betting company's largest shareholder said it would oppose any merger deal with Canada's Amaya. | Shares in William Hill have risen after the betting company's largest shareholder said it would oppose any merger deal with Canada's Amaya. |
Last weekend William Hill said it was in talks to merge with Amaya, which owns poker websites Full Tilt and PokerStars, in a potential £4.5bn deal. | Last weekend William Hill said it was in talks to merge with Amaya, which owns poker websites Full Tilt and PokerStars, in a potential £4.5bn deal. |
But Parvus Asset Management said the merger had "limited strategic logic" and would "destroy shareholder value". | But Parvus Asset Management said the merger had "limited strategic logic" and would "destroy shareholder value". |
Shares in William Hill - a FTSE 250 member - were up 4.1% at 311.3p. | |
Parvus said the betting firm should consider other all options to maximise shareholder returns, including a possible sale. | |
Ralph Topping, who stepped down in 2014 after eight years as chief executive of William Hill, said he "fully supported" Parvus. | |
"When this deal was announced I was left scratching my head," he told the Financial Times. Both [Amaya and William Hill] have a lot to sort out in their own business. I'm very anxious on the future of William Hill." | |
Also on the FTSE 250, shares in Man Group jumped 13.5% after the world's biggest listed hedge fund said it was buying investment manager Aalto, which manages property assets worth $1.7bn. | |
Man Group also reported a 6% rise in the value of funds under management during the three months to September and said it planned a $100m share buyback. | Man Group also reported a 6% rise in the value of funds under management during the three months to September and said it planned a $100m share buyback. |
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose 61 points to 7,039. Tesco was the biggest riser, up 3.9% to 202.6p. The supermarket said on Thursday night that it had resolved its pricing row with supplier Unilever. Shares in Unilever were down 0.5%. | |
On the currency markets, the pound was trading at about $1.2229, down 0.2%, against the dollar. | |
Against the euro it had risen 0.25% to €1.1110. |