888 Holdings and the Rank Group have abandoned their proposed acquisition of William Hill, withdrawing their prominent three-way merger bid.
Separate, non-binding propositions were presented to the William Hill board by the two corporations on August 8th and 14th, respectively, but both were declined.
In a combined announcement, 888 and Rank Group reaffirmed their confidence in the merger proposal’s benefits, describing it as “transformative” for the worldwide gaming sector.
The corporations opted to stop their pursuit, however, citing an “incapacity to interact productively with the William Hill board.”
Itai Frieberger, CEO of 888, expressed disappointment that the William Hill board “did not agree with our vision for the merged organization.”
“We maintain that the union of these highly synergistic businesses would have had compelling industrial logic and would have delivered value for all stakeholders through substantial revenue and cost synergies,” he continued.
Henry Birch, CEO of Rank Group, said, “We remain certain of the significant value creation that would result from combining the three businesses.”
“Rank and 888 would like to express their gratitude to their respective shareholders for their support during this process.”
William Hill also issued a statement acknowledging 888 and Rank Group’s stance.
The head of William Hill, Gareth Davis, shared that the prospective purchasers, a group comprising 888 Holdings and Rank Group, have withdrawn their bid and will no longer seek to acquire William Hill.
Despite this hurdle, Davis conveyed optimism in William Hill’s independent plan for generating shareholder value. He emphasized the firm’s robust results in the latter half of the year, noting they are positioned to surpass their original earnings projection of £260 million to £280 million for 2016.