More Irish casino news concerning William Hill

Today’s casino news, although not specifically Irish casino news, will interest anyone in Ireland who may have invested in shares in the online gambling market. We have reported previously on these pages the proposed takeover of Sportingbet by William Hill in partnership with GVC Holdings, and yesterday saw the result of last minute talks before the Takeover Panel deadline. Last week Sportingbet were forced to announce a downbeat trading update, and this has resulted in a significantly reduced offer for the company of £485 million instead of the initial £530 million. It appears that this new offer is likely to be accepted because although the valuation of the company has been reduced the proposed mix of cash and GVC shares has been structured so that most ordinary shareholders will have the opportunity to take more cash than the original offer. They now have a further two weeks to obtain the necessary approval. This deal will not directly affect Irish online casino customers who play casino games on the William Hill online casino site, because it is Sportingbet’s Australian, Spanish and Danish operations that will be taken over by William Hill with the rest going to GVC Holdings, who already have the Turkish business. Other casino news, again concerning William Hill, is their announcement that they intend to pull out of the Greek online casino and gambling market as a result of proposed new gambling rules by the Greek Gaming Commission, which they consider to be inconsistent with European Law. This move is likely to cost William Hill in the region of £5 million in Profits, but reinforces the feeling that new gambling regulations currently being proposed in many European countries will seriously affect the whole online gambling industry.