British bookmaker William Hill is set to enter the Irish market after clinching a €730 million deal to buy Stanley Leisure's betting shop chain.

William Hill yesterday agreed to buy Stanley's estate of 624 licensed betting shops for £504 million (€732 million) after several weeks of negotiation.

The widely anticipated move will give Hill a foothold in the Irish market, where Stanley operates 51 shops, putting it in fourth position in the market behind home-grown players Paddy Power and Boylesports and UK chain Ladbrokes.

William Hill chief executive David Harding yesterday said that he had received a number of phone calls from prospective buyers of Stanley's Irish estate.

Some analysts expected that Stanley would sell its Irish chain separately or believed that Hill would dispose of it after completing the purchase of the estate.

However, a spokesman told The Irish Times that the interest had prompted Mr Harding to believe that the business in the State presented the company with an opportunity.

"He is of a mind to keep it but there will be a review," the spokesman said.

Earlier Mr Harding told City of London analysts that he had just "parked a tank on Paddy Power's front lawn".

The company's statement also indicated that it favoured entering the Irish market. It cited the fact that the purchase would bring William Hill into new regions, "such as Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland".

Mr Harding did not name the parties who expressed interest in buying Stanley's Irish business. In recent weeks there was some speculation that Boylesports would buy the 51 shops but the company did not comment on this publicly.

Stanley Leisure will hold on to its casinos and other gambling-related businesses. The company's betting shops had earnings before interest, tax and write-offs of €54 million in the year to May 2nd, 2004. Its earnings for this year are expected to be weaker after it suffered a poor run of horse-racing results.