Caesars-William Hill deal concludes

The UK’s William Hill bookmaking business is now confirmed as a subsidiary of Caesars Entertainment.

The US operator announced yesterday (April 22) that it had completed its acquisition of the bookie for $4bn. The object is to maximise the opportunities for Caesar within sports betting and online gaming the US.

The combined companies currently operate sports betting in 18 jurisdictions in the US, an industry-leading 13 of which offer mobile sports betting. The company expects to be operational in 20 US jurisdictions by the end of 2021.

The transaction further expands the reach of Caesars Rewards by providing William Hill members access to the company’s industry-leading loyalty programme, including the ability to earn tier status that can be used at all of the company’s land-based and online properties. T

his combination also enables the company to further enhance its services to customers by providing a single-wallet offering of sports betting and online gaming products across the enterprise in the future.

As previously disclosed, Caesars intends to sell the non-US businesses currently owned by William Hill, including the UK and international online divisions and the retail betting shops.

William Hill was founded in 1934 in London and now employs around 14,000 staff, operating over 1,500 betting offices in the UK, although large numbers have been closed since the UK government imposed limits on fixed odds betting terminals.

Several leading bookmaking companies are thought to be interested in taking over the betting shops business.