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Ladbrokes chasing 888 again

Four years after pulling out of a proposed deal because of concerns about US legality, Ladbrokes PLC have confirmed they are in discussions to buy 888 Holdings. It's been a tough few years for 888 who were valued at 240p per share back in 2006, but last week before the announcement were south of 50p (now 56p after peaking around 60p). According to this report though, Sportingbet (who are known to be looking around for merger and acquisition targets after recent talks with Unibet) and Harrah's could be sniffing around as well....


Meanwhile, in other trading news, Goldman Sachs have upgraded their Betfair rating from neutral to buy. Not much conflict of interest there considering they were the investment bank who floated them, and are now probably desperate to save face as the company trades more than £3 below IPO price, and over £5 below the peak during restricted trading.....

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