888 completes non-US William Hill acquisition from Caesars

This acquisition was confirmed back in September 2021, when Caesars agreed on a deal worth $2.88 billion.

However, a couple of months ago, 888 came out with a new statement that the value of the deal was reduced to $2.68 billion. In May of 2022, the majority of shareholders approved the new sum, and it stood as official.

888 has also come out with the news that Itai Pazner will be taking the CEO role from previous CEO Ulrik Bengtsson. Other roles were also unveiled, including Yariv Dafna as Chief Financial Officer, Vaughan Lewis as Chief Strategy Officer, and Guy Cohen as Chief Operating Officer.

Previous Acquisition

More than a year ago, in April 2021, Caesars Entertainment announced the purchase of operator William Hill. The deal was close to $4 billion, and the purchase meant the two operators would merge and eventually become one big company.

With both companies working under one roof, they covered 18 jurisdictions in the US. The number was expected to grow by the end of 2021. Caesars also mentioned that all current William Hill members would be granted access to Caesars Rewards, its loyalty program. The loyalty status could have been used for brick-and-mortar and online casino sites.

While Caesars purchased William Hill, they were pretty open and mentioned that they intended to sell all of the non-US assets. This meant that all international and UK-based, retail betting shops and online sites will be put up for sale.

888 Holdings

While 888 Holdings is a massive brand, the majority of people will know it from their brick-and-mortar and online casinos. The company has been operating for nearly 25 years and owns various casino and sports betting brands.

888 had its boom when it managed to break into the Arabic speaking market. It was one of the first and certainly one of the more successful brands capable of implementing online gambling in Arabic speaking countries. 888 offered safe and secure casino sites, offering a fun pastime for all Arabic speakers.

Players from Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and other Arabic speaking countries can set up accounts and start playing when they want to. Some of the other reasons that 888 managed to catch the eye of Arabic speaking players were their rewards, easy access to their sites, the plethora of casino games, and multiple safety and privacy features.

The Future Ahead

Apart from the CEO, CFO, CSO, and COO changes, other management changes will be done at 888. Harinder Gill will take the Chief Risk Officer role and Naama Kushnir will be appointed Chief Transformation Officer, changing her role from COO.

Staff and management from William Hill will also get their roles, including Satty Bhens as Chief Product and Technology Officer, Phil Walker as Managing Director the UK, and Mark Skinner, who will take the role of Chief People Officer.

Officials of 888 have also mentioned that further organizational changes will be made. However, they will maintain momentum and keep things as stable as possible as the two groups merge into one.

The results of four segments will be reported in the future and those include 888 in the US, William Hill Online UK, William Hill Retail UK, and William Hill International. As of August 2022, 888 will be doing its first interim results, and all reports will be in Pounds Sterling (£).

New appointed CEO Itai Pazner gave a statement first thanking previous CEO Ulrik Bengtsson and CFO Eric Hageman, for the successful operation of William Hill in the past. He also commented that combining these two big brands and creating a brilliant leadership team from both businesses will grow the platform even bigger.

The Chair of 888, Lord Mendelsohn, also came out with a statement saying that combining these two mega brands will create something special in the global betting and gaming world.

Shareholders will get greater value, and the betting and gaming world will have a place to explore leading technology and products. He also believes that with the team that has been created, from talented individuals from both 888 and William Hill, the future's looking bright.

Final Thoughts

The process of acquiring non-US William Hill assets wasn’t easy because other companies were also trying to get a hand on the assets, including Apollo Global Management and CVC Capital Partners. In the end, 888 was successful in its last bid, and the majority of shareholders at William Hill approved.

This article is brought to you by Samir Ismail