According to the Mail On Sunday, Ladbrokes CEO Chris Bell has flown to Israel to discuss with his opposite John Anderson (a former Ladbrokes Executive Director) a £470m cash and shares offer.
A source close to the online casino operator told the Financial Times that 888\’s founding shareholders are not desperate to sell, because they believe in the long term business.
However, it is understood that Avi and Aaron Shaked, who together controlo over 51% of 888, want to establish ties with a conventional gambling company rather than another online gambling firm.
In separate news, Ladbrokes told Scotland on Sunday that during the Champions League final between Arsenal and Barcelona earlier this year and the World Cup in Germany, the company took more money online than from its high-street betting shops for the first time.
While betting on soccer over the internet remains the fastest-growing area for online revenue at Ladbrokes, another booming area has been betting on reality television shows such as Big Brother and Love Island.
“Reality TV betting is predominately an online experience, probably because it tends to attract a younger audience who have access to the internet either at home or at work,” said a spokesman for Ladbrokes.
Elsewhere, Panmure Gordon initiated coverage of Ladbrokes at sell with a 350p target. The stockbroker told its customers that the possible acquisitions and international expansion may create execution risks that the rewards are unlikely to match.
Citigroup cut William Hill to hold from, buy but increased target price to 665p from 650p. The financial services firm also initiated coverage of Ladbrokes with a hold and target price of 420p and retained Paddy Power at buy with a target price of EUR15.75.
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