William Hill completes Miapuesta takeover
Hills had six-month call option to acquire Sportingbet's Spanish-facing customer database
William Hill has completed the acquisition of Sportingbet’s Spanish-facing business following the operator’s joint-buyout of the company earlier this year.
The takeover of Miapuesta’s customer database follows a deal agreed in May, when GVC Holdings and William Hill acquired Sportingbet for £454m. Hills took a call option on Sportingbet’s Spanish operations which could be exercised after a six-month period.
It is understood the delay in completing this part of the deal was due to structural reasons. Miapuesta sat on the same platform as other European Sportingbet businesses including Turkey, so time was needed to migrate the customer data before completing the transaction.
All ex-Sportingbet customers will now be invited to join William Hill’s Spanish site. According to the Spanish gambling regulators’ Q1 figures, Miapuesta and William Hill held a 6% and 7% share of the country’s sports betting market respectively.
As such, William Hill has effectively doubled the size of its Spanish business a result of the deal, however it still finds itself way behind market leaders bet365 which dominates with around 60% market share.
The head of William Hill in Spain, Miguel Valdes, stressed that the move was a “tremendously positive” step to position the business for growth in the Spanish market and will help to provide a wider range of products and services to customers. “This addition will expand the supply and multiply sports like football betting options,” he said.
The purchase of Sportingbet saw GVC acquire the Alderney-licensed operator’s share capital, while Hills took ownership of its Australian business.