Eyal Shaked, son of 888 Holdings co-founder Avi Shaked, used social media channels to criticise William Hill for turning down the joint takeover bid of 888 and Rank Group’s consortium. He accused the bookmaker’s ego for rejecting the acquisition offer, saying that the categorical rejection would mark the “downfall” of the UK-based company.
Mr. Shaked used his Twitter account to accuse William Hill of dismissing the £3.16-billion bid driven but nothing but “pure ego” and predicted that would be the downfall of the company.
Although Rank Group has not made an official comment on the rejection, the consortium called for direct talks with William Hill’s board. According to the two companies, if the merger is successfully carried out, this would result in creating the largest multi-channel gambling operator by both profit and revenue on the territory of the UK.
If still the three-way deal was carried out, William Hill would hold a total of 44.7% of the combined group, Rank Group would own 29.6%, and 888 Holdings would have a total of 25.7%. Under the proposed terms, the current Chief Executive Officer of Rank Group Henry Birch would be appointed as CEO of the combined group, while the current 888 Holding’s Chief Itai Frieberger would become head of the entity’s Digital department.
On Tuesday, the consortium formed by 888 Holdings and Rank Group made an acquisition bid for the suffering UK bookmaker. The two companies valued the sports betting operator at a total of £3.2 billion, after offering 364p per share. Later that day, William Hill’s Board Chairman Gareth Davis announced that the company’s governance have decided to turn down the bid, calling it “highly opportunistic”.
According to the bookmaker’s Board, the bid greatly undervalued the business. In addition, such a three-way deal was considered too complex to carry out as it bore great risks to the operator’s investors.
For some time now, William Hill has been suffering some difficulties. The bookmaking operator, which is currently the market’s leader, is set to lose this position after the merger between Ladbrokes and Gala Coral is finalised. Unfortunately, the company has failed to keep its pace along with rivals in the conditions of highly competitive online gambling environment.
The increased taxes and tighter regulation had a negative impact on the company’s performance. The series of mergers and acquisitions in the industry has also made competition fiercer than ever, which has seriously hit William Hill and has been pointed as one of the main reasons for its underperformance lately.
- Author
Olivia Cole
