Hedge fund’s bookie stake

A LEADING investment fund has put its cash behind underpressure William Hill.

Mayfair-based Silchester International Investors has bought 5pc of the bookmaker’s stock – which has almost halved over the past four years to 240p, at last night’s closing price.

It is a boost for William Hill which is under huge pressure from higher taxes, tighter regulation, and rising competition, but the bookmaker posted an improved performance this summer.

Silchester focuses on long- term investments and has made its founder Stephen Butt one of London’s wealthiest fund managers.

The fund is now William Hill’s eighth largest investor with 43.35m shares worth £104m. The largest is Capital World Investors with 54.72m.

William Hill said revenue rose 3pc to £837m in the first half of 2017, in a recovery from last year when it fired its chief executive James Henderson for not making enough progress.

It is also facing the prospect of a crackdown on fixed-odds bet- ting machines. George Salmon, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said earlier this month: ‘A crackdown on fixedodds betting terminals is looking increasingly likely, and with each of the machines in William Hill’s fleet earning the group over £1,000 a week, any significant changes would hit the group hard.’

In June 17 partners at Silchester International Investors shared a £125m payday after the firm’s profits surged to more than £175m in the 12 months to the end of March.