Gambling companies Rank Group and 888 have both put in a merger offer for rival William Hill.
 
The UK betting business said it would "listen to and consider" any proposal, however it wasn’t made clear that combining all three companies would "deliver superior value", whilst Rank and 888 said they saw "significant industrial logic in the combination”.
 
The possible merger came about after James Henderson, William Hill’s chief executive was ejected from the company after a number of profit warnings. After taking over two years ago, Mr Henderson failed to resolve issues in the company’s struggling online business.
 
Recent figures show that the company’s net revenues decreased 11% in its online division in the 17 weeks to 26th April, whilst its shares fell 21% since the beginning of the year, valuing the former FTSE 100 business at £2.7 billion.
 
Both 888 and Rank haven’t made a formal bid to William Hill’s board and commented there was "no certainty that any transaction will ultimately take place".

Rival companies Gala Coral and Ladbrokes recently agreed a £2.3 billion merger, as well as Paddy Power and Betfair who join forces in September 2015.