William Hill is reported to be pushing to complete its acquisition of online casino group Mr Green.The Swedish company, which operates the immensely popular Mr Green Casino, is being acquired by William Hill for a reported price of around £241 million, equating to £5.90 per share.
European dominance
Recently, William Hill has been putting much of its efforts into the US market, ensuring that they have a huge presence in the developing market, battling it out with Paddy Power for dominance in the market.A 25 year agreement with El Dorado has perhaps been the biggest step for the bookies in the US market, with William Hill operating the sportsbooks for all venues under the El Dorado umbrella.But the acquisition of Mr Green shows that the British bookmaker is not neglecting the European markets either.Online revenues are reported to have fallen 5% as William Hill’s online operations have struggled, so the purchase of Mr Green can be seen as direct action as a result of these issues.
Job risks
As is often the case with acquisitions of this size, there are concerns about what this means for jobs, especially for those currently employed by Mr Green group.More than 100 jobs are expected to be reviewed by William Hill after they take over ownership, with Gibraltar, as well as Leeds and London expected to be the most at risk places, with several departments expected to be reviewed.While William Hill has stated their hope to relocate and redeploy as many staff as possible, it is expected that there will be job losses.Any employees who do find themselves without a job will be given appropriate redundancy packages.With big deals happening left, right, and centre at the moment, it’s possible that this will not be the last big announcement of 2018.