888 Holdings completes William Hill International acquisition

M&A

888 Holdings one of the world’s leading betting and gaming companies with internationally renowned brands which includes 888 and SI Sportsbook and now William Hill and Mr Green, is pleased to announce the completion of the acquisition of the international (non-US) business of William Hill International from Caesars Entertainment. 

 As part of the organisational changes, Ulrik Bengtsson and Eric Hageman, former CEO and CFO of William Hill will be leaving the Group following completion. Any future organisational changes will be managed with the primary objective of maintaining momentum within each business, and maximising the benefits of this complementary combination as the Group looks to achieve the potential revenue and cost benefits of integration, with anticipated pre-tax cost synergies of at least £100 million to be fully delivered by 2025. Upon completion, the Group will initially report results in four segments

888 currently intends to report its interim results in August 2022, and will begin to report financial results in Pounds Sterling from this point. The Company expects, following Completion and in compliance with terms of the existing William Hill 2026 guaranteed notes, William Hill to deliver a change of control notice to the trustee for the holders of the existing William Hill 2026 guaranteed notes enabling such holders, if they so elect, to require William Hill to repurchase their guaranteed notes in accordance with the terms of the William Hill 2026 guaranteed notes and, in the case of the existing William Hill 2023 guaranteed notes, the Company expects William Hill to deliver to the trustee for the holders of such notes, a notice notifying such holders of its intention to redeem the William Hill 2023 guaranteed notes in full in accordance with the terms of those notes.

Itai Pazner, CEO of 888, commented on the completion of the Acquisition: “I am delighted to announce the completion of our transformational combination with William Hill. We have built an outstanding leadership team, combining strengths from across both businesses, and as I look at the future, the combination of our product and content leadership, powered by our proprietary technology, and our world class brands, gives us a powerful platform for growth. I’d like to thank Ulrik and Eric for the great job they have done at William Hill and I wish them well for the future.”

Lord Mendelsohn, Chair of 888, also commented on the completion of the Acquisition: “This combination brings together two high quality businesses to create a powerful, global betting and gaming business. We believe the acquisition will create significant value for shareholders, creating a combined business with leading technology, products and brands across sports betting and gaming. With a top quality management team, formed from talent from across both businesses, I am confident about our future plans.” 

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