The companies announced on Wednesday that Caesars would pay £2.72 per William Hill share in cash, a premium of more than a quarter compared with the price before the US company’s interest was first reported last week.
The deal, which must be agreed by 75% of William Hill shareholders, was unanimously recommended by the UK company’s directors. It came after two rival bids by the US private equity group Apollo were turned down.
The takeover will give Caesars, the operator of the Caesars Palace casino in Las Vegas, access to the burgeoning US sports betting market. Caesars also owns various casinos in the UK.
Sports betting was illegal across the vast majority of US states until a 2018 supreme court decision overturned a federal ban, firing the starting gun on a race between bookmakers to target one of the world’s biggest potential markets.
The size of the online opportunity has given US betting companies a lifeline during the coronavirus pandemic, with the value of shares in Caesars surging from lows of almost $6 in the March panic to $54 on Tuesday evening. Caesars previously said the takeover could allow it to make between $600m and $700m in revenues next year in online and sports betting.
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