888 shareholders approve William Hill acquisition
More than 99% of FTSE 250 operator’s investors give the £2bn deal the go-ahead
888 shareholders have given the green light to proceed with the £2bn acquisition of William Hill International from Caesars Entertainment.
At an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held in London, shareholders returned a 99.73% approval for the deal, which includes William Hill International, Mr Green and Redbet, as well as the 88-year-old bookmaker’s UK retail portfolio of 1,400 shops.
In total, 307 million votes were cast in favour of the deal, with 819,264 cast against. A further 18,306 votes were withheld.
The acquisition is expected to complete on 30 June 2022.
Lord Mendelsohn, 888’s non-executive chair, said the approval would now allow 888 to create a “global online betting and gaming leader” via the merger.
He said: “We are delighted with the support of our shareholders for our proposed acquisition of William Hill and would like to thank them for their continued, constructive engagement as part of this process.
“We look forward to completing this transformational acquisition at the end of June, creating a global online betting and gaming leader through the combination of two highly complementary businesses and two of the industry’s leading brands,” he added.
Last month, 888 revealed it had secured a £250m reduction in how much it would pay Caesars which reflected the “change in the macroeconomic and regulatory environment since the announcement of the acquisition”.
Last September, 888 had agreed to pay £2.2bn for William Hill International, but the assets were revalued in April at between £1.95bn and £2.05bn
888 confirmed a reduction in the cash consideration element from a price of £834.9m to just £584.9m, which is a fall of almost 30%.
In that same document, it was also revealed Hills had set aside £15m to cover a potential fine from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
888’s shares were down 2% in early trading to 187p.