William Hill is heading to the US. The UK bookmaker’s board has recommended a £2.9bn cash offer from America’s Caesars Entertainment, one of its largest gaming groups; its properties include the famous Caesars Palace hotel and casino in Las Vegas. At 272p a share, this offer represents a premium of 60% to William Hill’s share price before Caesars first approached it in early September and is well over double the 128p at which William Hill raised money from shareholders a few months ago. Caesars is funding the purchase by issuing shares of its own. The deal will be put to William Hill’s shareholders at the company’s next general meeting.
Caesars isn’t the only company interested in buying William Hill; the other potential suitor is buyout firm Apollo Global Management, which could still launch a counterbid. But it has been “unceremoniously lapped” by the “lightning speed” of talks between Caesars and William Hill, as Ben Marlow puts it in The Daily Telegraph. And Caesars’ “bombshell” announcement that it would end its current US joint venture tie up with William Hill if anyone else bought the UK group also militates against a takeover by Apollo.
The American market is the main prize
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