The UK’s William Hill and Canada’s Amaya are in discussions that might result in a £4.6bn all share merger to create some of the world’s largest gambling companies, because the groups become swept up within the wave of consolidation hitting the betting industry.

On Saturday, the boards of the 2 companies confirmed they were in talks in accordance with press speculation, saying that a merger would create a transparent international leader across online sports betting, poker and casino games.

The merger could be classified as a reverse takeover, with the smaller group William Hill taking up the bigger company, Amaya. The firms said discussions were ongoing and there may well be no certainty that an agreement could be reached.

Amaya runs Pokerstars, the world’s largest online poker business, while William Hill is likely one of the UK’s largest retail bookmakers and likewise has significant operations in Australia.

Amaya shares were suspended on Friday after surging 9 per cent on reports that it was talks a few merger, however the company’s remains to be down 23 per cent during the last THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY FIVE DAYS. It has a market value of C$3.4bn.

Shares in William Hill are down 15 per cent during the last year, giving the corporate a market value of £2.5bn.

A deal would assemble two companies which have been in turmoil during the last year.

In August, David Baazov, the previous chief executive and co-founder of Amaya resigned all his positions on the company. He had previously stepped clear of the CEO position on a short lived basis to battle charges of insider trading that he's contesting, but had remained at the board. He has since been replaced by Rafi Ashkenazi.

The Canadian company have been undertaking a strategic review since February, when Amaya said it had received a suggestion from Mr Baazov to take the corporate private, but no bid have been forthcoming.

William Hill remains with out a permanent chief executive since James Henderson abruptly stood down in July amid growing concerns over its digital strategy. In August, William Hill rebuffed a £3bn takeover approach from a consortium of Rank Group and 888 Holdings that may have created Britain’s largest gaming group. This was despite William Hill previously making attempts to shop for both companies within the past.

More at Financial Times

Similar Stories from This Week in Gambling:

Read More... [Source: Gambling Headlines – This Week in Gambling]