INVESTORS will soon be able to gamble on the fortunes of bookmaker William Hill after it unveiled plans to float on the London Stock Exchange.

Shares in Britain's second biggest bookmaker should begin trading next month with the company expected to have a market value of about £1.1bn.

The listing will be one of the largest recent initial public offerings, eclipsing music retailer HMV's £775m flotation move last week.

William Hill chief executive David Harding said the company was about to join the market "on the back of an excellent set of results".

Figures released yesterday showed the firm generated turnover of £2.45bn in the 53 weeks to January 1, with underlying earnings at £128.5m.

The recent introduction of tax-free betting has also enabled sales in the first 13 weeks of this financial year to surge to £699.7m from £449.3m a year earlier.

William Hill said it stood to benefit further from proposals enabling it to double the number of slot machines allowed in each betting shop and from an increase in the size of maximum jackpot payouts.

Mr Harding said: "The flotation of William Hill is an important development at an exciting time for the company and the gambling industry.

"William Hill has a long established and widely recognised brand and is a market leader in all major betting channels in the UK."

Details of the share offer will be included in a prospectus due to be published towards the end of this month.

William Hill's venture capital owners, CVC and Cinven, are expected to retain a stake of about 30 per cent in the listed company. Analysts expect the company to have an enterprise value of up to £1.6bn, but will also carry about £500m-worth of debt.

William Hill's network of 1,500 betting shops makes its the country's second largest bookmakers behind Ladbrokes, owned by Hilton Group. Hill's, founded in 1934, has also established a telephone betting operation with an estimated 40 per cent market share and 150,000 active customers.

Online betting is also considered a major growth area for William Hill and has attracted customers from more than 150 countries since 1998.

Mr Harding said the online business had seen exceptional growth in turnover.