888, Caesars agree cut in deal price for William Hill intl assets

Gambling firms 888 Holdings and Caesars Entertainment have agreed a cut in the deal value of William Hill’s international assets due to tougher economic and regulatory conditions.

888 also unveiled plans to raise funds via a placing to help pay for its acquisition of the non-US operations.

William Hill’s international assets now have an enterprise value of £1.95bn - £2.05bn, compared to £2.2bn when the deal was announced last September. William Hill was bought by US gambling giant Caesars Entertainment in a $4bn deal last year.

888, which had already announced a £500m share placing to help fund the purchase, said it would place up to 70.8 million new ordinary shares - around a 19% stake.

The new terms of the deal include a £250m cut in the amount payable on completion and a deferred payout of up to £100m payable in 2024, the company said. The cash amount payable to Caesars at closing has been cut to £584.9m from £834.9m.

888 added that 2022 first-quarter revenue was currently expected to be in the range of $222m - $226m, down mid-teens year on year due to regulatory impacts, temporary closure of The Netherlands, and the “very strong comparative period that was impacted by leisure restrictions across several of our key markets”.