Amaya to poach M&A strategist from William Hill, fuelling talk of sports betting deal - report
Amaya [TSE:AYA], the Canada-based gaming group, is in negotiations to appoint William Hill [LON:WMH]’s group director of strategy, Robin Chhabra, The Sunday Times reported. Chhabra is in charge of managing M&A activity and the move is thus likely to stoke speculation of potential deals in the pipeline at Amaya, the owner of Isle of Man-based PokerStars, the report said. Amaya last year failed to complete a merger deal with William Hill, the item noted.
Rafi Ashkenazi, chief executive of Amaya, has made clear his intention to make a major sports betting acquisition, the report said. Sources said analysts and fund managers in the City have been courted by Amaya in the past few months, since Ashkenazi took over as CEO.