The owner of north west-headquartered gambling giant Betfred has purchased a minority stake in rival bookmaker William Hill.
Betfred, which was founded in Salford by brothers Fred and Peter Done more than 50 years ago, operates more than 1,600 high street shops in Britain.
In a report on company holdings, William Hill disclosed Warrington-registered Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Limited purchased 874,189,537 shares, which represents 3.03 per cent of the company.
Shares in William Hill increased from 128p at last close yesterday to a high of 132.90p this morning.
It comes after William Hill reported l ast month a pre-tax loss of £37.6m for the financial year to December 31, 2019.
However, this had increased from a pre-tax loss of £721.9m reported for the same period the previous year.
Chief executive Ulrik Bengtsson said at the time it had “move[d] into 2020 in a stronger position”.
He said: “This is an exciting time to be William Hill’s CEO.
“Our industry is evolving and this brings great opportunities, underlining the importance of our efforts to reposition the business.”
