Ladbrokes-owner Entain PLC's (LSE:ENT) 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.
This comes hot on the news of a reshuffle of the board that turned down a pair of multi-billion takeover offers from MGM and DraftKings at well above the company's current market cap.
With the pending departure of chairman Barry Gibson, 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 expectation of a bid coming in at an attractive premium led to a bounce in Entain’s shares to a month-on-month high of 826p - though still down 61% since the start of the year and 36% over the past 12 months.
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.