STOCK WATCH: Now who’s favourite in William Hill takeover?

Investors in William Hill are on tenterhooks after another week without a judgment on the scheme of arrangement to complete the £2.9billion sale to US rival Caesars.

Powerful hedge funds and their lawyers have objected to the board’s decision to recommend investors to approve Caesars’ offer, saying shareholders did not have enough information.

Court moles suggest the judge may simply be on holiday. But in an unusual twist, William Hill’s shares traded above the terms of Caesars’ takeover last week.

Traders are betting that if the judge sides with the hedgies, either Caesars will have to stump up more or a rival bidder, such as Apollo, will step in with a better offer. Expect courtroom drama.

Deliveroo

The embers of Deliveroo’s disastrous stock market debut are still smouldering as the blame game continues in the City.

Fingers were pointed at dastardly hedge funds supposedly driving down the price of the firm on listing.

But IHS Markit data shows that just a tiny number of shares are out on loan.

Deliveroo and its rival Just Eat will post first-quarter trading updates this week, showing the extent to which locked-down Britons sought solace in takeaways.

Deliveroo founder Will Shu’s old employer, Morgan Stanley, reckons Just Eat’s order growth could have topped 90 per cent.

The big question now: can that continue as dining in returns to restaurants during the less takeaway-friendly summer months?

Quiz 

Quiz question: What do Cannock in Staffordshire, Orton Southgate in Cambridgeshire, Skegness in Lincolnshire, and St Albans in Hertfordshire have in common? 

Answer: They have just become the final areas to escape Royal Mail’s list of locations where deliveries were routinely disrupted due to high levels of coronavirus absences and self-isolation. The slow reduction in the lengthy list has proved an encouraging bellwether in the fight against Covid.

With the boom in online shopping seemingly set to continue, investors will hope shares in Royal Mail can hang on to their gains post-lockdown.  

ReNeuron 

Former City broker Richard Griffiths has been dubbed the ‘Welsh Wizard’ for his stock market bets, and has brought plenty of fellow investors under his spell.

So market watchers take note. It has emerged that the Jersey dweller has taken a 7 per cent stake in ReNeuron.

The small-cap is a stem cell research specialist which recently raised £15 million to expand a study of its treatment for a degenerative eye disease.

The shares have rallied over the last month, up more than 30 per cent at £1.33. Griffiths’ followers will have their eyes trained on this one.