Acquisition becomes a major driver for the growth of the business over the next decades. The company becomes part of the Sears Holdings Group. The number of betting shops in the UK peaks at 14, Brent Walker purchases William Hill, which has 1, betting shops and the largest credit betting operation in the world. William Hill goes online with the launch of the betting service, Sportsbook. William Hill launches an off-shore telephone betting service and is the first major bookmaker to offer a deduction-free betting service to UK-based clients via the internet.
William Hill launches the online casino. William Hill floated on the London Stock Exchange on 20 June at an offer price of pence per ordinary share. The offer was oversubscribed in excess of 10 times. The chief executive, David Harding, said: "Some shareholders may have preferred the certainty of cash Some 30 sites have been earmarked for disposal in an effort to avoid the attentions of competition regulators.
The deal, which must win Stanley shareholder approval, will take the number of William Hill shops to 2, - about more than the number operated by the market leader, Ladbrokes. Yesterday, shares in William Hill closed down Gross win was flat for the 19 weeks to May Mr Harding admitted Stanley's shops, which trade under the Stanley Racing and StanleyBet brand, were smaller and less well situated than William Hill sites, as well as being in need of investment.
Stanley's estate contains 1, touch-screen roulette machines, known as fixed-odds betting terminals, to which William Hill plans to add a further
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Why is William Hill prepared to pay as much as 12 times earnings, as some estimates suggest, for Stanley's strong betting shop estate? On price - well that is not as straightforward, although William Hill should be able to make large cost synergies and the deal also removes a competitor.
William Hill had said it would return cash it had been holding back for possible casino developments, had the Gambling Bill opened the doors to new competition. But last-minute changes to the law mean the threat of new gambling outlets has been much reduced, and William Hill said it no longer needed the cash. The stakes are high, then, for William Hill. If the deal goes through, it will have to deliver significant revenue boosts to make it worth the gamble with the affections of its investors.
Some experts believe this will be difficult, given that Stanley's estate is somewhat down-at-heel and has had years of underinvestment. According to Seymour Pierce estimates, Stanley shops lag William Hill shops in gross win terms by 26 per cent, and the average profits generated at each Stanley shop are more than 60 per cent below those at William Hill. He said: "In short, William Hill is acquiring an estate of lower quality at a premium valuation. Coral, the third-largest bookmaker, was talking up its form on the acquisition front, saying it had not been beaten by William Hill in a competitive auction for a betting shop yet.
A spokesman for Coral said: "We are keeping our options open. There are uncertainties surrounding these talks [between William Hill and Stanley] on both price and execution. A spokesman for the Tote said: "We would be very interested in getting involved in the purchase process of the Stanley shops if the opportunity were to arise.
We have very clear specifications on the quality and location of what we buy," a spokesman said. Excluding Ladbrokes, why are betting shops in such demand? The reality is that internet and telephone betting, although growing strongly, are still tiny fractions of business for even the biggest betting chains. Betting shops are still at the heart of their businesses, and companies are spending millions on making them more welcoming.
The real jackpots for high-street betting operators, however, come in the form of sophisticated fruit machines that display computer-generated roulette wheels and horse racing. The Italian government put nine-year concessions up for tender in August , but the clauses on the distances between points-of-sale favoured the 1, winners of the call, from which Stanley had been unfairly excluded. The bid was a success. However, the Monti decree unexpectedly established a concession term of only three years and included a clause requiring the free transfer of the network at the end of the concession, making it impossible for high-profile companies to participate.
Meetings were held with the Italian Regulator and an understanding was reached for Stanley to tender for online services. Stanley hopes to reach an agreement as soon as possible for retail services as well, and is putting all its efforts in this direction. In , at the end of the long non-competition period agreed with William Hill, Stanley resumed operations in the United Kingdom: it opened its first shop in this new era on 14 February in Liverpool.
Only its Italian operations are cross-border under a Maltese licence, due to the discrimination that Stanley has faced in accessing Italian concessions, in violation of EU law, as confirmed by multiple rulings of the Court of Justice and Italian judges, including at the highest levels.
The Stanleybet Group is currently a major European player in the gaming industry and operates on the B2C market in Belgium , Cyprus , Denmark , Italy , Malta and the United Kingdom with a total of over 2, shops and offices and 3, employees and freelancers. The Group also operates in Croatia, Germany, Nigeria and Romania through its B2B brand, Magellan Robotech, which designs and develops sophisticated gaming products and solutions click here to learn more about Magellan Robotech. He subsequently worked on several major IT projects for the U.
Despite his successful rise in the industry, he took the bold decision to strike out and form his own IT business in , initially developing gaming system software for intermediaries licensed by the Italian state. This joint venture was aimed at the European sports betting market, initially in Croatia and Italy, and thereafter in numerous other European countries.
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