William Hill has rejected a further merger proposal from Rank and 888 Holdings, rumoured to exceed £3billion, to create Britain’s biggest multi-channel gambling operator.
William Hill are one of the UK’s biggest high street bookmakers with thousands of branches in Britain and Ireland. They have also stepped up their online presence in recent years with operations based in Gibraltar. You can get a £20 free bet when you sign up at William Hill via this link and use the promotional code F20.
Deposit then and place your first bet of at least £10 (at minimum odds of 1.20 which equals to 1/5 in fractional odds). Once your first bet is settled, you will get two free bet tokens of £10 – free bets are valid for 30 days.
William Hill’s board has dismissed has the revised proposal from casinos and bingo firm Rank and online gaming group 888 as “highly opportunistic” and claims it “substantially undervalued” the company. The consortium had a £3.16billion takeover bid turned down last week. They haven’t increased the cash component of their offer but, under the second proposal, William Hill shareholders would own 48.8 per cent of an enlarged group, which has increased from 44.6 per cent.
The two sides seem miles apart and can’t even agree on the valuation of the suitors’ second bid so a deal doesn’t look imminent. However, it would be no surprise if William Hill’s current shareholders eventually caved in. The betting industry has been adopting a ‘safety in numbers’ policy recently in a bid to ride out possible financial uncertainty regarding interest rates and the implications of Brexit. A revised Horse Racing Levy could also cost bookmakers millions.
The pending merger of competitors Ladbrokes and Coral, and Paddy Power and Betfair, show that no betting firm is too big for city speculators to engage and a further offer for William Hill may appear before the August 21 deadline. William Hill shares have fallen further below the bid price, however, as analysts remain sceptical that an acceptable deal will materialise.
