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 | | Monday, 13 May, 2002, 09:43 GMT 10:43 UK William Hill to float in June  Investors can take a view on William Hill shares The betting shop chain William Hill says it plans to float on the London stock market by the middle of June. The company, which has more than 1,600 High Street shops, is Britain's second biggest chain. It says it plans to sell its shares to institutional investors in the UK and internationally, as well as to small investors in Britain. William Hill said that, because of gaming deregulation, it was an exciting time for the gambling industry. That made it a good moment to take the company to the market, it said. Room to expand The company is known to be keen to expand its business by snapping up some smaller chains. William Hill has approximately 300 shops fewer than the biggest player, Ladbrokes. That gives the firm plenty of room to expand, without fear of contravening competition laws, analysts said. Chief executive David Harding is understood to be reckoning the company could buy another 400 shops without awakening competition concerns. Disappointing William Hill will give details of its proposed share price when it publishes a prospectus later this month.
Analysts are suggesting the share offer could value the firm at between �900m and �1.1bn. Another High Street name, HMV, is currently floating but the response from investors has been disappointing. William Hill has said it sees no reason to delay its flotation and is expecting plenty of interest from private investors. The company will be targeting them through an advertising campaign and leaflets in all its shops. William Hill is owned by the private equity groups Cinven and CVC Capital Partners. The company attempted to float in February 1999 but its then owner, the Japanese investment bank Nomura, scrapped the flotation at the last minute and sold the firm to the two private equity houses for �825m. | | See also:  Top Business stories now:  Links to more Business stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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