Following Caesars Entertainment’s agreement to acquire William Hill, 888 Holdings has expressed its interest in acquiring the British bookies’ European operations.

As reported yesterday, Caesars Entertainment has agreed to acquire William Hill in a £2.9bn ($3.72bn) deal, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. It also confirmed it only intends to keep William Hill’s US operations, and will seek to sell its UK and European businesses. 

Now, according to the Financial Times, 888 Holdings CEO, Itai Pazner, has suggested his company may be interested in acquiring William Hill assets from Caesars, saying:

“We are going to look at any asset that can be relevant for us, and within that list, if that opportunity (to buy William Hill’s assets) comes our way, that could be relevant for us.”

888 Holdings saw revenue surge 37% year-on-year, to $379.1m, in the first half of 2020 as it benefited from a surprise uptick in online poker. Profit before tax also rocketed 130% to $50.9m. Indeed, 888 Holdings’ stock price has risen a dramatic 260% since the COVID-19 pandemic started.  

AYO.NEWS says:

Like many other online gaming operators, 888 Holdings has benefited from a surge in business during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with furlough and job support schemes winding down in many countries, including the UK and Germany, Europe is facing the real possibility of unprecedented unemployment. 

If this happens, and consumer spending power plummets, it could well be that only the biggest operators have the economy of scale to survive – so it makes sense that 888 is looking to ‘strike while the iron is hot’ and snap up William Hill’s assets… or at least online ones.  

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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