Sachem Head says Entain's stock could double in a few years

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Sachem Head Capital Management expects sports betting and gambling company Entain's shares could double in the coming years, fueled by increased demand and better returns from a joint venture with hospitality, sports and entertainment company MGM.

"Time is on your side," Sachem Head founder Scott Ferguson said at the 13D Monitor Active Passive-Investment Summit in New York on Tuesday, adding "you are getting paid to wait for BetMGM to inflect."

BetMGM is the joint venture between Entain and MGM that lets customers bet on football, baseball, soccer, basketball, hockey games and more.

Sachem Head is one of four activist investors that have placed bets on Entain. Between them, they could push Entain to explore strategic options that could include Entain buying all of BetMGM, merging with MGM or having MGM buy all of BetMGM.

The other investors include Keith Meister's Corvex Management, Ricky Sandler's Eminence Capital and Malcolm Levine's Dendur Capital, Ferguson said at the conference. Representatives for the hedge funds confirmed the investments.

At the same time, even if Entain were to do nothing, investors could benefit, Ferguson said. "Aligned investors will help the company explore all strategic options. But worst case, we are comfortable with the status quo."

The BetMGM joint venture was created in 2018 and while it lagged competitors Flutter and DraftKings for a time, the outlook is improving.

"Investors are getting BetMGM for free," Ferguson said, noting that increased legalization of sports betting would open up new markets and that BetMGM is now making better choices on its spending. While it overinvested in expensive sports marketing like costly Super Bowl ads in the past, it is now concentrating on higher returns on investment.

Entain, a UK company, is worth nearly $7 billion and its stock price, which closed at $10.88 on Monday, could zoom as high as $27 in 2028, Ferguson said, citing the "bull case scenario." In the last five years, the stock price has lost 21%.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss; Editing by Nia Williams)