888 interested in acquiring William Hill’s international assets should opportunity arise
CEO Itai Pazner reveals potential deal could “definitely fall within scope” of operator’s “cautious and diligent” M&A strategy
Itai Pazner has revealed 888 would be interested in acquiring William Hill’s international assets should they become available in the aftermath of its multi-billion-pound takeover by Caesars Entertainment.
Speaking exclusively to EGR, the 888 CEO confirmed the operator is planning to remain active in the M&A market and addressed rumours surrounding a potential carve up of Hills’ non-US assets.
“I don’t see a reason to do a deal in order to just do a deal unless it significantly adds value to the company,” Pazner explained.
“If you put those lenses on and you start looking at what’s out there, there are a few deals or areas that could be interesting for us and William Hill’s European assets definitely fall within that scope,” he added.
However, Pazner admitted there was a long road ahead before any potential deal could be realised.
Caesars’ £2.9bn acquisition of William Hill is still subject to anti-trust and regulatory approval and conditional on being given the go-ahead by Hills shareholders.
“They’ve made it public that they will want to divest the European part of William Hill,” said Pazner.
“We’ll need to see if that comes our way and if it does, we’ll definitely consider it, in so much as we consider all these types of deals.
“We’ll take it seriously, we will look at it and we’ll see if it can add value,” he explained.
“If it can add value, we’ll try to enter a process with them [Hills/Caesars] but I think it’s definitely too early to be discussing that.
“Also, we’re not the only ones who are going to be looking at such an asset and there will be other interested parties in any deal.”
Addressing 888’s wider M&A policy, Pazner warned of the logistical challenges of so-called transformational mergers, versus the strategy of making bolt-on buys.
“Obviously bolt-on acquisitions are easier to do and they have less of an impact on the business, for good or for ill, than the transformational deals which take more time and resources to achieve.
“Transformational deals are the one for me that you must absolutely get right. If you get a bolt-on deal wrong, it can be a little damaging for a short term to medium period.
“However, if you get a transformational deal wrong, then it’s definitely not going to help you to remain one of the top companies in the industry – if anything it could go the other way around,” Pazner added.
He also suggested 888 would be extremely “cautious and diligent” in assessing future consolidation.
“We have a clear idea of what we’re good at, which is things like technology, marketing, people and management.
“When we look at these types of deals, we look at things that can be synergetic and create additional value for the company and its shareholders,” he concluded.