William Hill: Caesars Palace-owner in 'advanced' talks over ₤ 2.9 bn bet9ja's welcome offer

Caesars Entertainment, the Las Vegas casino-owner, states it remains in advanced takeover talks with William Hill over a possible ₤ 2.9 bn quote for the bookie.

The US firm stated William Hill's board had suggested it is minded to advise its money deal of 272p a share.

William Hill has actually also gotten a takeover technique from US personal equity firm Apollo.

But Caesars said if William Hill chose Apollo, it would jeopardise a joint venture in between the business.

Caesars chief executive Tom Reeg stated: "The opportunity to integrate our land based-casinos, sports betting and online gaming in the US is a genuinely interesting possibility.

"William Hill's sports wagering competence will complement Caesars' existing offering, allowing the combined group to much better serve our clients in the quick growing US sports wagering and online market."

On Friday, William Hill verified that it had actually received 2 takeover approaches, which sent its share cost skyrocketing by 42% to 312p.

Caesars stated its bet9ja's welcome offer was nearly 58% greater than William Hill's share cost on the day before the US company made its first approach on 2 September.

It included it was likewise above the yohaig code wagering business's share cost on Thursday recently, before its disclosure of the 2 approaches triggered its share price to rise.

But David Cumming, chief financial investment officer for equities at Aviva Investors, stated deals for William Hill might overtake the 312p level its shares ended at on Friday.

He told the BBC's Today program: "The view is - and we do hold some William Hill so it [has] some interest here - the 40% rise on Friday, provided comparative appraisals in the US, it is possible that the quote comes in at a greater level than the closing price we saw then so there still may be some advantage."

Apollo - which is likewise one of two firms in the final running to buy UK grocery store Asda - is yet to publish details of its possible deal for William Hill.

However, Mr Cumming said he thought Caesars was the most likely victor "because it currently owns 20% of William Hill's US service therefore it need to have some synergies".