UK betting giant, William Hill, last night looked poised to enter the Irish market with the purchase of Stanley's 51 high street bookmakers in this country.

William Hill, the UK's second biggest bookmaking chain after Ladbrokes, has signalled that it is willing to pay £500 million sterling (€730 million) for Stanley's 583-strong betting shop estate.

The bid would include Stanley's 51 shops in this country. William Hill is currently conducting due diligence on Stanley's betting shop operations, and could then formally offer to buy the business.

Analysts believe that the £500 million price tag is generous, and that Stanley is likely to accept it. The 51 shops in the Republic would make it the fourth largest player in the market here.

While some analysts are sceptical that William Hill would be interested in entering the Irish market, which is more competitive than the UK, a spokesman last night told The Irish Times that the company was interested in this country.

"My understanding is that they are interested in the whole estate, including Ireland," he said. "If they were not, they surely would have said so by now."

The logic of William Hill's bid is that Stanley's shops would give it a presence in markets where it either has very little or none at all," he added, saying this would include Ireland.