William Hill is coming back under European ownership – 888 Holdings William Hill takeover is set to complete in Q2 2022! (Image by Photo by NORTHFOLK on Unsplash)
Happy New Year once again, and to start off what promises to be a prosperous year 888 Holdings PLC, a London Stock Exchange (LSE) listed company, has already earmarked its complete takeover of William Hill’s non-US assets for Q2 2022. The €2.6 billion (£2.2 billion) deal was announced in early September and then confirmed just days after.
Currently, the owner is Caesars Entertainment Inc, formerly Eldorado Resorts – the company that made the original purchase of Caesars Entertainment Corporation. The firm purchase William Hill in order to take over its US assets and put the non-US assets up for auction along with many other non-US assets owned by the original Caesars Entertainment Corporation. That included selling land-based casinos.
It was thought that Apollo Global Management, which is a US-based private equity fund would edge 888 Holdings, but as 888 already has experience in online gambling, its bid was likely higher, and 888 is based in Europe so perfectly poised to keep William Hill’s best interests at heart, the LSE company pipped its US competition to the post.
Since Caesars Entertainment Inc accepted 888 Holding’s offer, the LSE PLC has been seeking regulatory approval.
As we were all ticking over into 2022, 888 Holdings media centre reported that it has the necessary regulatory approval for the acquisition to go ahead. In that report, the company states it will take until Q2 this year to tie up the transition of the William brand to 888 Holdings. The deal includes William online casinos, sportsbooks, and multiple high street betting stores to which most are located in the US. For UK citizens, the hope is the William Hill brand stays alive simply because it is a part of British gambling history with stores on high streets around the country.
A full ‘Acquisition and Capital Raise’ will occur during Q2 2022. That means the next step to come is for 888 Holdings is to publish a combined circular and prospectus for the takeover. On top of this, there will be a shareholder vote and also capital raise. 888 Holdings already explained in previous press releases to its shareholders that the aim was to generate £500m gross proceeds using a common tactic which is to issue new equity.
Chief executive at 888 Holdings, Itai Pazner, said that the acquisition of William Hill is an exhilarating chapter in the history of the company and one that is exciting. His main point was the scalability the acquisition gives 888, the current operator for 888 online casino, and many other casino brands, a huge edge in the casino and sports betting industries. And we are inclined to agree. It is a ready-made brand, it takes the competition of 888 under the companies control, and has both online and retail infrastructure already in place. What more could a large gambling firm ask for? In the end, the buyout was a no-brainer.
888 Casino Sells Bingo Assets: In other news related to 888 Holdings, the company sold its Bingo business, which is a huge iGaming operation, to Broadway Gaming. The move came as a surprise as 888 Holdings seems to enjoy being involved in multiple gambling verticals. However, the selloff does not appear to be connected to the William acquisition in any way.
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