Proactive Investors - Ladbrokes-owner Entain PLC (LON:ENT)’s shares sprung more than 5% higher on Monday following weekend reports that private equity firms are keeping the betting big cap on their radars.
According to a Times report, foreign PE giants including Apollo remain interested in “a whole range” of Entain’s assets, despite numerous takeover bids being rejected by chairman Barry Gibson in the past couple of years.
But with Gibson’s pending departure, Apollo et al may be poised to make another swoop on the FTSE 100 firm, encouraged by a share price that has collapsed by a third in the past 12 months.
The Times report was largely speculative, but should a bid be announced, it would undoubtedly be for an attractive premium.
This has led to a bounce in Entain’s shares to a month-on-month high of 826p.
Gibson is set to be replaced by Stella David, Entain’s current interim chief executive. The group is currently scouting for a permanent chief executive following the departure of Jette Nygaard-Andersen at the end of last year after three years in the role.