Eyal Shaked accuses William Hill governance of ‘Pure Ego’ in its takeover rejection

Pure ego made #WilliamHill reject #Rank and #888 £3.16bn bid and that will be their downfall. https://t.co/51roD63iI9

— Eyal Shaked (@Eshaked) August 9, 2016

Eyal Shaked, the son of 888 Holdings Co-founder Avi Shaked has taken to Twitter criticising William Hill governance of ‘Pure Ego’ for rejecting the Rank and 888 consortium bid of 364p per share takeover offer (value circa £3.3 billion).

The criticism of William Hill governance by Eyal Shaked, the Managing Director of family investment fund Shaked Ventures comes as 888 and Rank leadership made an appeal to William Hill investors for direct talks.

The Shaked family are 888 Holdings largest shareholders with 48% of corporate equity, any potential merger with Rank and William Hill would have to be fully supported by the co-founding family.

At present William Hill governance is adamant that it will not present the £3.3 billion bid to its investors, citing that the consortium offer was ‘highly opportunistic’ and of undervaluing the company’s assets.

In response, Rank and 888 presented merger details outlining that the new enterprise would aim to become the UK’s ‘largest multi-channel gambling operator’, with 92% of its revenues generated in regulated markets.

Under its proposed terms, William Hill’s shareholders would hold 44.7 % of the combined group, 888’s 25.7% and Rank’s 29.6%.

Citing mass industry consolidation which may affect William Hill future performance against giant betting corporations such as Ladbrokes-Coral and Paddy Power Betfair, Rank and 888 governances have urged William Hill investors to push for reviewing of its offer.