888 eyes post-Caesars William Hill with integration timetable

888 has confirmed its expectation to complete its $2.9bn (£2.2bn) acquisition of William Hill during the first quarter of 2022, with a completion pipeline of regulatory clearances already underway.

In preparation for the completion, the London-listed operator has revealed integration planning efforts are “progressing well” with teams from both 888 and Hills working together.

A central pivot of this is the disentanglement of the William Hill non-US business, from its US business, which will still be owned and operated by Caesars post-completion.

Several elements of William Hill were integrated into the main Caesars business when the US casino operator acquired Hills in April for $3.7bn (£2.9bn), moving parts that will now need to be separated.

As part of the sale agreement, 888 and Caesars agreed a separate arrangement in which Caesars will retain the intellectual property rights to the William Hill US brand in the US.

888 has agreed to not utilise any aspect of William Hill branding in the US in perpetuity, with the London-listed operator expected to continue with the development and rollout of its Sports Illustrated (SI) Sportsbook.

However, full terms of this agreement have yet to be revealed.

For its part, Caesars has already shed much of the prior William Hill US identity, with the exception of states where brick-and-mortar William Hill sportsbooks have been built, where the brand identity will now transition to Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill.

In addition, Caesars sportsbooks outside of Caesars-owned resorts will remain as William Hill, with Hills Nevada-geolocated gambling app remaining under the guise of William Hill.

Long-standing William Hill US CEO Joe Asher exited the business in April, post-takeover.

The proposed reorganisation of the Hills business must first clear the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which must also approve re-admission of 888 to the London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) main market for listed securities, and the premium listing segment of the LSE’s official list.

To aid integration, 888 has promoted Guy Cohen, SVP B2C operations at 888 to serve as its first SVP director of integration.

Cohen, who will continue to report directly to 888 CEO, Itai Pazner, has been tasked with working with a senior team from William Hill to advance integration between the two businesses.

A veteran of 888, Cohen has been with the 888sport operator since 2007, and has held directorial and executive level roles in the group’s casino, social gaming, and bingo divisions.

888’s acquisition of William Hill must first pass a shareholder vote to be taken at a general meeting, expected to occur in early 2022, however all mandatory antitrust and gaming regulatory clearances have been received ahead of this final approval.

In advance of the completion, 888 has revealed plans to conduct a £500m capital raising exercise via the issue of new shares in the business on the LSE.

888 CEO Itai Pazner reaffirmed his commitment to the “transformational” acquisition of the William Hill business, something which will see 888 add a retail offering to its business model for the first time.

“The appointment of Guy Cohen to the critical role of SVP, Director of Integration also strengthens our leadership and commitment to this important process, as we look to leverage the significant expertise and talent from both businesses to benefit the combined group,” Pazner explained.

“I’m delighted that we have now checked off a number of important milestones towards completion of the acquisition.

“Given the strong progress we have made, we now expect the transaction to complete in the first quarter of 2022 and are excited about the opportunities ahead of us as we combine two powerful and complementary businesses,” Pazner added.