The Battle For William Hill

Following the acquisition by Caesars Entertainment of William Hill and announcing the casino giant only wants to retain the US business of the UK bookmaker the rumours of who would buy the UK and Europe business has been relentless.

When Caesars bought the entire William Hill business for £2.9 billion earlier this year and the casino operators Tom Reeg, chief executive of Caesars Entertainment stating the company only wanted to retain the US entity of William Hill there has been an endless line of suitors for the assets of William Hill in Europe.

Now Entain has joined those names with rumours circulating that the owner of brands such as Ladbrokes and Coral interested in the business.

Indeed Entain themselves were a target of an acquisition by another US casino giant MGM Resorts for $11 billion. Now it seems the best way to fight off another attempt is to get bigger and that is why Entain are in the market for acquisitions.

Entain are already in a bidding war for Australian gaming firm Tabcorp who they have currently offered $2.9 billion, but Apollo Global Management are in the mix for Tabcorp also having lost out in a bid for William Hill when Caesars were successful.

Indeed there a rumours Apollo could make a bigger run on Entain itself who earlier this year were valued at £6.6 billion, but MGM Resorts offer that amount plus a 22% premium on the shares but failed.

Entain see the online gambling industry only growing and value their business highly, indeed estimates have the online gambling industry to grow by double digits by 2028 and valued at $158 billion by then.

The rumours of Entain throwing in their hat for William Hill assets is not wild as Chief Executive Officer Jette Nygaard-Andersen said herself recently in an interview: “We’re looking at everything, so we’re certainly also looking at whether this could be an interesting opportunity.”

READ THE FULL ARTICLE in the Infinity Gaming Magazine Out Friday 28th May