£700m bid for William Hill owner 888

William Hill owner 888 rejected a takeover by a gambling software firm this summer, it has been revealed.

The betting giant received a £700million written offer from Playtech in July.

But the offer – a price of 156p per share – was deemed to be too low for the company, according to The Sunday Times.

Shares in 888 have fallen 30 per cent over the past year, closing at 70.6p last week. 

The firm’s bosses, Labour peer Lord Mendelsohn and gambling industry veteran Per Widerstrom, suffered a blow when 888 was kicked out of the FTSE 250.

Too low: Betting giant 888 received a £700million written offer from Playtech in July

888 owns a slew of online bingo and casino firms under its flagship brand. It forked out almost £2billion for bookmaker William Hill in 2022. It has been hit by new gambling regulations in recent months.

Revenue slipped to £405m for the three months to the end of September from £449.4m in the same period a year earlier. At its UK and Ireland business it fell 10 per cent to £157.2m.

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