888 Holdings agreed to buy William Hill’s European business from the US operator Caesars Entertainment in a deal estimated to be worth £2.2 billion.
888 Holdings stated that the deal between them and Caesars Entertainment would include 1400 William Hill’s United Kingdom betting sites.
888 Holdings executive chief Itai Panzer further stated that the acquisition would transform 888 holdings into one of the world’s leading operators within the online betting and gaming industry.
The deal is set to create a group with over 12 000 employees, and 888 Holdings will aim to save £100 million a year.
888 Holdings said that the recent acquisition of the European arm of William Hill would give the company the world’s largest and fastest-growing segment in sports betting, with the added extra of the iconic sports betting brand.
William Hill chief executive Ulrik Bengtsson stated, “The William Hill and 888 strategies are highly complementary with an absolute focus on the product and customer experience.”
He commented further by saying that the one factor behind the move was William Hill’s High Street presence.
The William Hill brand was first created in 1934 when its founders created a phone-based and postal betting service.
Once William Hill’s presence on High Streets was made legal, the business opened its first betting shops within the UK around the mid-1960s.
Since the opening of their first store in the mid-1960s, William Hill has not only built an impressive amount of physical betting stores. Still, he has also become one of the premier online casino sites that offer the best casino bonuses along with Betway and 888 Casino.
William Hill’s European arm performed well in 2020 and generated total revenue of US$1.56 billion. Of that, approximately $1.08 billion came from digital operations.
Many questions have been raised about the worth of the William Hill physical betting stores as they were closed last year in August due to the pandemic and lookdown restrictions.
William Hill stated that they would not open any of their 199 betting stores after the lockdown. William Hill’s management did not believe that customers would return to the stores in the same volume as before lockdown.
888 Holdings currently anticipates completing its William Hill and William Hill International deal within the second quarter of the 2022 financial year.
Once the acquisition is finalized, 888 Holdings will take over all of William Hill’s non-US assets, as the Caesars Palace casino owner wants to retain the US operations of William Hill.
Chief executive of Caesars Entertainment, Tom Reeg, said that he was “delighted that the firm had found an owner for the William Hill business outside of the US that shares the same objectives, approaches and longer-term ambitions of that business.”
United States private equity firm Apollo Global Management was also said to be in the running for the purchase of William Hill. However, the group pulled out due to a conflict of interest with Caesars Entertainment. However, Apollo Global Management was not out of the running for the Non-US sites after Caesars Entertainment purchased William Hill.
The takeover of William Hill is still subject to both the Financial Conduct Authority and shareholder approval.
Chair of 888 Holdings, Lord Jon Mendelsohn, said: “We believe the acquisition will create significant value for shareholders, creating a combined business with leading technology, products and brands across sports betting, gaming and poker, supported by top quality management talent from both businesses.”
The purchase of William Hill’s assets will nearly double the size of 888 Holding’s operations and will undoubtedly take some time to complete the delicate transaction.
