William Hill has entered into exclusive discussions to buy Stanley Leisure’s chain of over 600 retail betting shops for over US$0.96bn, in a deal that would see it become the UK’s largest bookmaker.
If the deal goes through it would see William Hill leapfrog Ladbrokes as the UK’s largest high-street bookmaker, and give the firm almost 25% of the UK retail market.
It is not known at this stage if the acquisition would include Stanley’s online betting operations, which is not believed to be a significant part of its business.
Stanley Leisure announced William Hill was conducting due diligence on the potential acquisition.
But both firms were at pains to point out there was no guarantee of the transaction going ahead at this stage.
William Hill is by far the larger of the UK high -treet giants in the online space, but has trailed Ladbrokes in shop outlets to date.
The sale of Stanley’s betting wing would leave the Stanley Leisure as a pure-play casino operator.
The deal could still be subject to approval from a UK government seeking to avoid a betting monopoly.
Ladbrokes’ attempt to buy rival firm Coral as it would have taken over too great a share of the UK market.
UK sportsbook giant William Hill has entered into a partnership with Greek firm the Demco Group to explore opportunities in a deregulated Greek betting market.
In addition, the agreement will see the two organisations investigating other South Eastern European markets such as Romania and Bulgaria.
Although betting within Greece is currently restricted to the sate-run operator OPAP, William Hill said it expected some for of deregulation in the “medium term”.
“With a population of 10 million people and a passion for sport, a deregulated Greece would offer an attractive betting market,” David Harding, chief executive of William Hill, said.
William Hill already offers a Greek-language version of its online site.
source : egr magazine
