- Chairman Barry Gibson has more than quadrupled his stake in the company
- Jette Nygaard-Andersen, CEO of Entain, has doubled her stake in the company
- The largest share purchase was made by non-executive director Stella David
Senior directors at Entain have expressed their confidence in the owner of Ladbrokes following the acquisition of around £2.4m of shares.
Chairman Barry Gibson has more than quadrupled his stake in the company after buying around 93,700 shares worth almost £870,000, while his wife, Brenda, has bought £140,550 worth of shares.
Jette Nygaard-Andersen, CEO of Entain, has doubled her stake in the company after acquiring 35,000 shares worth around £324,000.
Good deal: Entain directors acquired around £2.4m worth of shares in Ladbrokes owner
But the biggest purchase was made by non-executive director and Vue International chairman Stella David, who bought around £900,000 worth of shares.
A total of 665,682 shares, representing 0.1 percent of Entain’s issued share capital, were acquired by four board members and Ms. Gibson on November 7.
This is Money asked Entain for comment on the stock purchases but received no response.
The transactions come a few days after US investment fund Dodge & Cox more than doubled its stake in Entain to 10.3 percent, becoming the second-largest shareholder.
Own shares rose 3.1 per cent to £9.70 by the end of Wednesday afternoon, making them one of the top gainers on the FTSE 100 Index.
However, they are still down about 28 percent since the beginning of the year due to stricter regulatory measures.
In recent years this has included a strict £2 cap on fixed-odds betting terminals, a ban on bonus offers for high-risk customers and guidelines to crack down on so-called ‘VIP schemes’.
Further restrictions will be introduced, with a UK Government White Paper, published at the end of April proposing stricter affordability checks and a mandatory levy to fund gambling addiction treatment and research.
Entain has also seen its shares hit by “customer-friendly sports results”, a £600m fundraising to finance the takeover of Polish sports betting group STS, and a £585m settlement involving a Turkish-focused company it once owned.
In a trading update released last week, the company revealed that net retail and online gaming revenue fell on a pro forma basis in the three months ended September.
Still, gaming revenue rose 10 percent at constant exchange rates in the first nine months of 2023, or 14 percent if we include revenue from the BetMGM joint venture.
Commenting on the results, Nygaard-Andersen said: “Entain has undergone a profound transformation in recent years and now has a strong foundation to move into the next phase of growth.
‘We have invested heavily in responsible gambling initiatives. While these steps have had an impact on EBITDA, they are undoubtedly the right thing to do to improve our long-term prospects.”