William Hill denies chairman Davis to step down

William Hill has denied reports its chairman Gareth Davis will step down next year after the UK bookmaker’s £6bn attempted merger with Amaya failed last week.

The Times yesterday reported Davis was under pressure from shareholders following the collapse in talks with the Canadian operator and that Hills would begin its search for a successor in 2017.

The proposed merger was terminated just days after Hills’ largest shareholder, Parvus Asset Management, criticised the rationale for the operator’s proposed reverse takeover of Amaya.

However, a William Hill spokesperson told EGR “there are no plans” for Davis to step down. “He has an exceptional track record and his experience and insights are hugely valuable to William Hill,” the spokesperson said.

“He is leading the CEO search process which is well advanced and is working with Philip Bowcock to deliver the key priorities for the business.”

Davis was appointed chairman in 2010 and, in addition to his duties at William Hill, is also chair of two other London-listed companies – Wolseley plc and DS Smith PLC.

He was also previously chief executive of Imperial Tobacco Group PLC for nine years.

William Hill has been under pressure to complete a deal in light of a number of mergers between rival operators, including Ladbrokes-Gala Coral, Paddy Power-Betfair, and GVC-bwin.party.

Earlier this year Hills also rejected a number of take-over approaches from 888 Holdings and The Rank Group.

The company’s share price was down 0.44% to 293.40p on the London Stock Exchange at the time of writing.