William Hill Considering Sportingbet Takeover
It has been reported that William Hill is considering a joint takeover of Sportingbet which would mean it acquires the firm’s Australian operations and possibly its business in Spain.
It has been reported that William Hill is considering a joint takeover of Sportingbet which would mean it acquires the firm’s Australian operations and possibly its business in Spain.
Shares in Sportingbet rose 7.25p following the announcement from William Hill on Wednesday.
The company’s Australian business makes about half of the group’s revenues and most of the profits. The Spanish sector produces a further 14% of revenues.
William Hill said that it was at the early stages of considering an offer for Sportingbet. They have been having discussions with potential co-bidder GVC and said that any offer would mainly be in cash with an element of GVC shares.
Sportingbet is one of the largest online gambling businesses in the world and over the years has acquired a number of international companies.
In 2004 Sportingbet bought Paradise Poker and became one of the stock market’s fastest growing companies, a year later it was worth over £1bn.
Unfortunately most of Sportingbet’s revenues were wiped out when the US passed laws making it illegal for banks to process credit card payments for gambling.
However, in recent years Sporting bet has enjoyed healthy earnings but their shares have had problems due to regulatory uncertainty in some markets.
