Gaming analysts predicted that in 2020, we would witness some big mergers and acquisitions in the gambling market. The two mergers that have so far stood out in 2020 involve Caesars Entertainment.
The first was when Eldorado Resorts acquired Caesars Entertainment in July 2020 after paying $17.3 billion to create a gambling behemoth. The second acquisition involves Caesars Entertainment taking over popular UK bookmaker William Hill for £2.9 billion.
The Caesars-William Hill deal is currently pending approval from regulators. The deal is expected to be finalized only during the second half of 2021.
Caesars is expected to make some major changes to the way William Hill functions going forward and analysts suggest that William Hill could possibly move away retail betting and focus more on the online betting market across the United States. This is one of the reasons why Betfair is keen on going after William Hill’s retail portfolio in the UK.
Betfred has slowly increased its shares in William Hill during the COVID-19 period as William Hill’s stock prices took a beating and fell to just 36p per share. Betfred now owns 6 percent of William Hill’s stock and is looking at acquiring the retail portfolio at a discounted price.
Since the UK rolled out the max bet of £2 on fixed odd betting terminals (FOBTs), William Hill along with other bookmakers have struggled to bring in the revenues. Fred Done, who founded Betfred will gain an additional £170 million as a result of William Hill being acquired by Caesars Entertainment.
Whether Caesars will be interested in offloading its retail portfolio in the UK and whether it will be interested in the discounted Betfred offer remains to be seen.
While Betfred has expressed interest in William Hill’s operations in the UK, 888Holdings who had a failed attempt in 2016 has come forward again to express interest in William Hill’s European operations. 888Holdings said that the firm was in a good financial position and was looking at different opportunities to expand and grow its business in Europe.
William Hill’s assets in Europe are currently on the radar of 888’s CEO Itai Pazner. 888Holdings recorded a 37 percent increase in revenue during the first half of 2020 when compared to the second half of 2019. 888Holdings brought in an additional $379.1 million in revenues while profit margins increased by a whopping 130%.
888Holdings has provided no precise information as to what assets they have in mind and whether they will approach Caesars with an informal proposal in the coming weeks.
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