WH buys Tom Waterhouse

The UKs biggest bookmaker William Hill has announced the purchase of Australian online betting company Tom Waterhouse for £20 million. As reported by the iGaming Post back in early July that William Hill were considering a bid it has now been formally approved.

In the deal WH will also take on the reported £3 million of debt the online betting site has along with offering Tom Waterhouse bonus incentives should the struggling Australian site reach a profit by the end of 2015, which could take the purchase price to as much as £45 million.

Tom Waterhouse employs some 80 staff and no announcement on those jobs has been made. The online betting business in Australia is thriving and following William Hills other purchase into Australia, the Sportingbet deal that involved its Australian business, this certainly makes a statement of intent that William Hill are very serious about the market there.

Ralph Topping, chief executive of William Hill, said: “We are pleased to have secured this acquisition. International expansion is a key part of our growth strategy and making Australia our second home is a priority. The Sportingbet acquisition gave us a strong and proven platform with an experienced management team. Acquiring tomwaterhouse.com gives us a rapidly growing business that appeals to a complementary customer base. We are bringing together some of the best talent in the bookmaking industry into one formidable team. I’m impressed by Tom Waterhouse and his team, who are passionate and entrepreneurial. They’ve built a good business in a short period of time and have achieved strong growth momentum.”