EGR Power 50 2021: 9. William Hill
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9. William Hill (8)
FINANCIALS: The firm hasn’t released financials relating to 2021, however 888 said William Hill International saw YoY online revenue growth of 38% in both Q1 and Q2
STRATEGY & IMPACT: As a heritage brand, William Hill carries a lot of weight. Its UK retail estate and omni-channel opportunity has obvious advantages over online-only rivals
GEOGRAPHIC REACH: Expanded earlier this year into Colombia with majority stake in Alfabet SAS, which took Hills’ regulated markets to nine. Outside the UK, key markets are Italy, Spain and Nordics
INFLUENCE & LEADERSHIP: Despite losing its way in recent years, resulting in its slide down the Power 50 rankings, the William Hill name still transcends gambling in the UK
This will be the final time William Hill will appear in the Power 50 rankings as a standalone business after the bookmaker was devoured by Caesars Entertainment in a £2.9bn takeover and the casino giant carved off the US division and flogged the nucleus of the group to the highest bidder. That winning offer of £2.2bn, or roughly 9.2x normalised EBITDA for William Hill International in 2020, came from 888 as the online firm outmanoeuvred the likes of Apollo Global Management and CVC Partners working with Tipico.
Analysts had predicted Hills’ non-US assets would fetch somewhere in the region of £1.2bn to £1.5bn, so Caesars did rather well from the sale by effectively paying £700m for William Hill US in what is a particularly frothy market. On the flipside, 888 gets its hands on a household name in the UK, aided by the fact its logo adorns a 1,400-strong chain of betting shops up and down the country. On that point, it had been assumed that William Hill’s retail estate would be sold as part of any deal, however 888 seems committed to the shops ostensibly because of the “attractive omni-channel opportunity” and them being a “key enabler of online growth”.
Moreover, William Hill, which boasts a sizeable online presence in Italy, Spain and the Nordics, also has over three million active online customers across Europe (two million in the UK), according to an 888 slide when unveiling the acquisition. Hills also made its Latam debut in May after taking a majority stake in Colombia-licensed operator Alfabet SAS and rebranding its sportsbook to WilliamHill.co. 888’s acquisition also involves the Malta-based Mr Green business, and so this established casino operator bolsters 888’s position in the Nordics.
While on the topic of Mr Green, the gaming operator was given a makeover recently after commissioned research found the relevance and appeal of the Mr Green character had begun to drift despite high brand awareness. What’s more, William Hill’s marketing department made sure the firm was front of punters’ minds in the run up to the Champions League final and the rescheduled Euro 2020 this summer with an impactful UK TV ad filmed across 16 locations in London and featuring the rousing Neil Diamond song ‘Sweet Caroline’. 888 needs to ensure Hills isn’t a one-hit wonder if this 87-year-old bookmaker is to remain relevant.