William Hill Bid Farewell to $4.2 Billion Offer from 888 and Rank

Sol FH. - August 10, 2016

Sports

The UK sportsbook William Hill has decided to reject a huge offer by 888, Rank Group.

The acquisition of famed UK sportsbook, William Hill did not go through. An offer was made the other day for an astonishing $4.2 Billion, but William Hill's decision-makers decided to say no to the money; it was a surprise to all that this deal did not go through. Take into consideration that a bid to buy the UFC for $4.2 Billion was accepted by the mixed martial arts league recently and when it comes to cash amounts like this, one would be hard-pressed to deny it.

Rank Group's bid was for 364 pence a share with 45 percent coming from shares in a newly formed company created to make the acquisition. William Hill is holding out as the offer seriously is lower than the worth of the company in reality. $4.2 Billion represents a "low premium" said representatives of William Hill on Tuesday. They know that the bid undervalues the famed sportsbook and it does not represent the inherent value of the company. The proposal also included a lot of risk for the shareholders, as they would be merging with a company that would have 2.2 billion pounds of debt to fund the cash part of the deal.

After letting go of CEO, James Henderson last month, William Hill has been struggling to keep up with the world of online betting. They are still one of the most popular online sportsbooks of all time and they have expanded their services to mobile and new web platforms as well. The shares did rise by 0.5 percent at the close of trading in London and it rose as much as 7.3 percent earlier than that when the bid was announced. 888 has been having its fair share of faults as their stock fell 1.9 percent to 219.25 pence, but the Rank Group shares rose 0.9 percent to 211 pence.

Major mergers have happened over the last while in the iGaming and sportsbetting world with Plc and Coral merging with Ladbrokes not too long ago. That will make Ladbrokes the biggest bookmaker in Britain, beating out companies like William Hill and bet365 for top spot.