The Board of William Hill decided to reject the £3.3-billion acquisition bid proposed by the consortium of the gambling company 888 Holdings and casino operator Rank Group. William Hill used the advisory services of Barclays and City Group. The governance team of the bookmaker officially revealed that they unanimously turned down the acquisition proposal, because the company saw no financial sense in the merger proposed by the consortium.
The Chairman of the UK bookmaker Gareth Davis commented on the refusal, saying that the conditional proposal substantially undervalued the company and was very risky. Mr. Davis also judged the bid as “highly opportunistic” and shared that in the Board’s opinion, it did not reflect William Hill’s operations’ value.
The takeover offer was formally issued at the afternoon of August 9th, but the Board quickly rejected it, explaining that the proposed deal was considerably lower than the corporate enterprise of William Hill. This was the reason why the bid was not forwarded to the company’s investors.
In addition, the company’s Chairman described the eventual three-way deal as a very complex one to be carried out and shared that in the Board’s opinion it was quite risky for the shareholders of William Hill, as it bore integration risk, execution risk and risks of materially increased leverage.
Yesterday, Casino Guardian reported that a consortium formed by 888 Holdings and Rank Group had made a takeover offer for William Hill, estimating it to 364p per share. Some experts even reported that the offer could increase to 408p per share, which would value the operations of the UK-based bookmaker to up to £3.6 billion.
William Hill would provide more details on the rejected three-way deal which would have created one of the largest gaming operators not only on the territory of the UK, but also in Europe. According to the company’s official statement, “inter-conditional” all-share merger with 888 Holdings and Rank Group was included in the acquisition offer. If the proposal had been successfully taken, Rank Group and 888 Holdings would form a group under the name BidCo which would consume William Hill.
The approached UK-based bookmaker also hinted that any future acquisition offers would also be turned down. The Board’s Chairman Mr. Davis said that the company’s governance team intends to stick to the bookmaker’s strategy to focus on its digital and international businesses and said that the bookmaker’s investors should take no further action.
- Author
Olivia Cole
