Contracts are constantly signed in the iGaming world and providers and operators are acquired by other companies of the same type and the reasons for that may be different. While we recently informed you that 888 UK Limited faced a fine, it didn’t stop the company’s progress in the industry.
This time below we’ll see how 888 acquires William Hill assets for £1.95bn. In addition, William Hill appears on the market in Latvia.
888 acquires William Hill assets from Caesars for £1.95bn
The story of the acquisition of William Hill started in September 2021 when 888 agreed to acquire the non-US assets from the land-based operator Caesars. Caesars had previously acquired the complete William Hill business for £2.90bn and its plan was to keep only its US assets.
Considering the amount of the current William Hill assets, this transition must be approved by shareholders of 888. They’ve done that on 16 May by voting where the deal was supported by 307 million votes or 99.7% of the voting shares and only 819,264 were against it.
Lord Mendelsohn who is the non-executive chairman of 888 Holdings said to be delighted with the support of their shareholders for their proposed acquisition of William Hill and would like to thank them for their continued, constructive engagement as part of this process
“We look forward to completing this transformational acquisition at the end of June, creating a global online betting and gaming leader through the combination of two highly complementary businesses and two of the industry’s leading brands.”
This occurs shortly after 888 and Caesars agreed to reduce the purchase price to acquire the assets by £250m, with the deal now set to be £584.9m instead of £834.9m.
As William Hill's license was under review in the UK so £15m was needed to cover any costs arising from this review. The deadline is expected to be 30 June.
Sports betting brand William Hill launched in Latvia
William Hill is an industry-leading sports betting and online casino operator and it has recently spread to the Latvian market anticipating some crucial 2022 sports events. It has entered the market quickly by rebranding the local sports betting brand 11.Iv.
This local brand has operated in Latvia since 2012 and it was acquired by the William Hill Group in 2019.
There are some significant sporting events coming in Latvia this year, so it seems like the right thing to do now. The events include the 2022 IIHF World Championship this month and the Responsible Gaming Latvian Cup (Latvian FA).
William Hill International MD, Nir Hakarmeli said to be very proud of the work done building 11.lv brand in the Latvian market, becoming one of the leading brands in the country.
“This makes us well-positioned to take this strategic step, and we look forward to introducing one of the strongest brands in the industry and proving to our Latvian customers that William Hill is who you play with.”