William Hill cannot agree on takeover deal with 888
February 16, 2015
As the latest updates come out in regards to William Hill’s takeover bid for 888 we not have an update to our story published last week. It has now been confirmed that the potential of a deal taking place is now off the table, at least for the time being.
The main reason for the deal not coming together was of course the substantial disagreement between the two negotiating parties on the value of 888. The board of 888 holdings has officially agreed to terminate the discussions with William Hill.
Just last week we reported that William Hill put out a 750 million pound offer but the Shaked family, who happen to be one of 888’s founding members did not feel that this offer was a reasonable valuation of their brand. The family that owns 24% of the company wanted to get 300 pence per share from William Hill, while last week’s offer only put a 210 pence per share value.
Today’s announcement took an immediate effect on the stock exchange as well with 888 shares falling by about 15%, this following a 20% rise last week when the official offer of 750 million pounds came in from William Hill. 888 is now trading at 145 pence per share on the London Stock Exchange while William Hill is holding a 333 pence position after a 1.6% increase.
Many believe that following this failure to close a deal, William Hill will now pursue another opportunity and already rumours swirled in regards to Bwin/Party being their next potential target.
