Shares in Entain PLC (LSE:ENT), the owner of Ladbrokes, Coral and US joint venture Bet MGM, spiked on reports that it faces growing investor unrest from activist investors.
Following the shares recently sinking to a three-year low below 840p, two more US activist hedge funds have voiced concern over the gambling group’s languishing share price and the ability of chief executive Jette Nygaard-Andersen to revive the FTSE 100 company’s performance.
New York-based funds Sachem Head Capital Management and Dendur Capital have built positions in Entain, according to several sources cited in a Financial Times report.
They join Eminence Capital, a Wall Street activist that also owns a 2.1% stake and went public with its grievances in June.
Having had "many" conversations with directors, Eminence's open letter levelled, among other criticisms, that its approach to acquistions was "perplexing on many levels", as "funding them with highly undervalued equity is an empire building, shareholder value destroying strategy".
Furthermore, after previously rejecting takeover approaches from MGM and DraftKings at materially higher prices on the grounds that they undervalued the company, "to then turn around and issue equity at depressed prices for an asset that is at best a 'nice to have' is illogical".
The activists are also concerned about flagging sales in Entain’s core markets, including the UK, where regulators have cracked down on the online betting industry, as well as a series of management mishaps, the FT sources said.
Shares in Entain finished up almost 6% at 880p.