Eminence Capital founder and CEO Ricky Sandler
Activist investor Eminence Capital has boosted its stake in Ladbrokes owner Entain to 5.8 per cent, making it the gambling firm’s third biggest shareholder.
It follows Entain’s decision earlier this year to hand board seats to Eminence, which started the month with a holding of around 4.7 per cent.
Eminence boss Ricky Sandler was named non-executive director of Entain in January after the Wall Street investor criticised its former boss Jette Nygaard-Andersen, who later left the group amid the resolution of a prolonged bribery scandal.
Nygaard-Andersen is still yet to be replaced on a full-time basis, while the gambling firm’s chair Barry Gibson also announced his departure in April.
Gibson fought off two takeover attempts in the time since joining in February 2020, and the announcement of his departure sparked speculation that private equity suitors could be circling the firm.
City analysts have recently identified Entain alongside a list of blue-chip stocks vulnerable to a takeover approach.
Entain is also seeing some pressure on its bottom line from the challenges of ‘regulatory implementation’ after the UK Government introduced a statutory levy and stake limits on certain types of betting. It also faces growing compliance requirements elsewhere in the world.
Meanwhile the firm is betting its fortunes on its growth trajectory in the US, where it is facing mounting levels of competition.
Entain shares are down more than 27 per cent year-to-date and more than 45 per cent over the last year.
Based on the most recently available data on Entain’s website, Eminence is now the group’s third biggest institutional shareholder. It sits behind Capital Group and Dodge & Cox, which help 15.2 and 10 per cent of shares, respectively, at the end of March.
Betting against these investors are Marshall Wace and Perback Capital Partners, who in combination hold short positions equivalent to 1.5 per cent of Entain shares, according to regulatory data.
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