Exclusive: Ulrik Bengtsson “absolutely” committed to William Hill post-Caesars takeover

William Hill CEO Ulrik Bengtsson has reaffirmed his desire to remain as CEO of the business after its £2.9bn ($3.7m) takeover by Caesars Entertainment.

In its financial results for 2020, Hills confirmed Caesars expects to conclude the acquisition by Q2 2021, pending approval from US authorities.

In an interview with EGR, Bengtsson said: “I’m committed to remain with William Hill, absolutely.

“Ultimately, it’s up to the new owner to decide what management team they want to have in place, but I’m committed and I think we have a great future ahead of us,” he added.

Some reports have speculated Bengtsson could lead a private-equity backed buy-out of Hills’ international business, which Caesars intends to offload.

Caesars has implemented a key employee retention scheme that would see Bengtsson and Hills CFO Matt Ashley receive cash payments of 200% of their respective annual salaries when the takeover completes.

Hills said its acquisition by Caesars would “require considerable time and effort by management to ensure it proceeds smoothly”, highlighting a risk to business-as-usual activities if not managed properly.

“Caesars has indicated they intend to sell the non-US business, and this will also require considerable effort and management resource to ensure this challenge is met in a timely manner with minimal impact or disruption to the group’s usual trading activities,” said the FTSE 250 firm.

Bengtsson confirmed to EGR that William Hill has not altered the management of the business to prepare for the separation of the US division from the to-be-sold international arm.

“Nothing has happened so far as that process has not started,” explained Bengtsson.

“It will not begin until we have closed the original deal, which we have said will happen in Q2. Once that deal is closed, we will start to deal with matters beyond the sale,” he added.

Hills is understood to have installed a comprehensive communications programme for employees to allay uncertainty and speculation, with updates to be provided as the deal moves closer to completion.

Reflecting on his tenure as Hills CEO to this point, Bengtsson said he was very happy with the company’s achievements since he replaced Philip Bowcock in September 2019.

“We sat down in 2019 and set out the refocusing of William Hill and the long-term competitiveness of the company, focusing on some key aspects, namely customers, product, the teams, engagement and execution,” he explained.

“In all these aspects, we have really made strides forward and there is so much evidence of that in whether it’s the employee or customer Net Promoter Score, the revenue growth we’re now seeing online or even the return to shareholders on the back of the deal.”

William Hill reported a 32% rise in US revenue in 2020 to £167.3m ($234m) as it launched in seven new states and accelerated the rollout of its online casino platform.

The wider group reported a 16% year-on-year drop-off in 2020 net revenue to £1.3bn ($1.8bn), while annual adjusted pre-tax profit crashed 91% with the closure of its 1,400 UK betting shops due to coronavirus.