The profitable though sometimes tumultuous four-year relationship between the British bookmaker and the software giant may be coming to a close, as William Hill prepares to buy out Playtech's minority shares in its company.
UK-based William Hill is the world's biggest bookmaker and online gambling king. Top software developer Playtech provides software, hosting, and transaction management solutions for online casinos and other Internet gaming sites. It seemed like a partnership made in heaven until it didn't.
Now, William Hill intends to ask banks to valuate Playtech's 29-percent stakes in its digital offshoot, William Hill Online (WHO) - indicating a desire to exercise its buyout option. And while the valuation process is supposed to end in February next year, analysts from top US and European banks have already come up with some numbers - £372m and £493m - of what they think Playtech shares are worth.
So why is this joint venture - with a reported operating profit last year of £106.8M and a 2012 third-quarter profit increase of 42 percent) - about to be disjoined? Many point to the series of damaging headlines that came out late last year - including a staff walkout at WHO's Bulgaria and Israel offices, the disclosure of a $250,000 fish tank at the Tel Aviv branch, and even the hiring of ex-Israeli intelligence officers to put the situation under control.
But while the actual buyout is still to be finalized and Playtech has committed to a smooth transition of its assets, William Hill CEO Ralph Topping intends to take strategic control of the online business and changes are already in the offing.
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