Junco fukada biography of william hill

William Hill (bookmaker)

Bookmakers in the United Kingdom

William Hill is a British gambling company founded in Its product offering includes sports betting, online casino, online poker, and online bingo. Business operations are led from its headquarters in London, with a satellite office in Malta.

The company was previously listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Caesars Entertainment in April In July , William Hill was subsequently bought by Holdings for £ billion.

History

The company was founded by William Hill in [2] It changed hands many times, being acquired by Sears Holdings in ,[3] then by Grand Metropolitan in , then by Brent Walker in [4] In September , Brent Walker recouped £m of the £m it had paid for William Hill when Grand Metropolitan was found to have exaggerated the company's profits at the time of the sale.[5]

Japanese investment bankNomura mounted a £m leveraged buyout of William Hill in [6] In February , a proposed stock market flotation was abandoned due to "weak interest"[7] and Nomura sold the company to funds managed by private equity firmsCinven and CVC Capital Partners for £m instead.[2]

The company was eventually listed on the London Stock Exchange in [2] The following year chief executive David Harding was awarded a £m bonus, making him the UK's fifth highest paid company director in [8] It acquired Sunderland Greyhound Stadium in and Newcastle Greyhound Stadium in [2] In June Harding sold £m of shares to fund his divorce, precipitating a decline in the company's stock that wiped £75 million off the value of the company.[9][10] In , William Hill bought betting offices in the UK, Republic of Ireland, Isle of Man and Jersey from Stanley Leisure for £ million: the acquisition briefly took the company past Ladbrokes into first position in the UK betting market[11] in terms of shops but not revenue.

The Office of Fair Trading made William Hill sell 78 of the Stanley shops due to concerns over anti-competitive practices.[12]

In November , William Hill went into partnership with Orbis (latterly OpenBet), and Israeli software company Playtech, to remedy its own failing online operation.[13][14] The same month, analysts at UBS noted "concern" at the company's level of debt,[15] which stood at over £1 billion[16] and was later reported as £ billion.[17] In , the company enacted both a rights issue and a corporate bond issue, in an effort to restructure its debt.[16]

From until , William Hill paid George Howarth, a Member of Parliament, £30, to act as a parliamentary adviser.

While on William Hill's payroll he tabled amendments to the budget proposing tougher levels of taxation for person-to-person betting exchanges.[18][19] Howarth left the role in the wake of the expenses scandal.[20]

Under the terms of the deal, William Hill paid Playtech's founder Teddy Sagi £ million for various assets and affiliate companies.[21][22] These included several online casino sites which William Hill continues to run under the name WHG.

Playtech took a 29% stake in the new William Hill Online entity.[14] The company wrote-off a reported £26m when scrapping its previous in-house system.[23] In June William Hill backed Playtech despite its partner having a quarter of its stock market value wiped out following a profits warning.[24]

In , William Hill paid £ million ($ million) for full control of its online business marking an accelerated expansion and resulted in the dissolution of the partnership with Playtech.[25] In May , William Hill presented prototype of "Get In The Race" – a virtual horse racing application.[26] On 2 August , it acquired Grand Parade, the betting and gaming digital solutions company for £ million in cash and shares.[27]

In , William Hill was fined £ million by the Gambling Commission for systematic failures regarding anti-money laundering and problem gambling.

The operator was found to have accepted large deposits of cash linked to criminal activity between and , resulting in £ million in financial gains. William Hill was ordered to return the £ million profit, plus pay a penalty of £5 million for breaching regulations.[28]

On 7 January , William Hill received regulatory approval to conclude its purchase of Mr Green for £ million.[29] On 17 July , William Hill raised £ million in a new ordinary share rights issue to provide a timely capital boost during the COVID pandemic.[30] In August , as a result of the economic effects caused by the COVID pandemic, the company announced that it would close shops permanently.

Despite that, only 16 employees would lose their job positions, while the others would be assigned to new positions. It also announced that the firm would be merging its retail and online operations.[31]

On 30 September , William Hill agreed to a £ billion takeover bid by Caesars Entertainment, the Nevada-based casino operator.

The deal was unanimously recommended by the UK company's directors. It came after two rival bids by the US private equity group Apollo were turned down.[32][33] In April , Caesars completed its acquisition of William Hill and the company was delisted from the London Stock Exchange.[34][35]

As Caesars was interested only in William Hill's industry expertise and its US operations, the European business was put up for sale, attracting bids from Holdings, Apollo, and CVC.[36] In September , Caesars agreed to sell the European business to Holdings for £ billion.[36][37] However, in July , reduced its offer to £ billion and this was accepted.[38] The sale was completed in July [39]

On 28 March , the UK Gambling Commission ordered three William Hill Group companies - WHG (International) Limited, Mr Green Limited, and William Hill Organization Limited - to pay a record £ million for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.

Commenting on the penalty package, Andrew Rhodes, Gambling Commission chief executive, said: "When we launched this investigation the failings we uncovered were so widespread and alarming serious consideration was given to licence suspension. However, because the operator immediately recognised their failings and worked with us to swiftly implement improvements, we instead opted for the largest enforcement payment in our history."[40]

UK operations

William Hill employs approximately 12, people, 8, of them in the UK.[41] The company operates 1, betting shops.[42][43] In addition to its online sportsbook operations, the company offers online casino games, skill games, online bingo and online poker.

Since the Gambling Act ,[44]gaming machines have strengthened profits to counteract falling revenues in other areas.[45][46] In , the company moved its online betting operations to Gibraltar to reduce its taxes by millions of pounds.[47]

In August , William Hill launched a training programme for its 10,+ workforce to combat underage gambling in its retail outlets.[48]

In , William Hill became a founding member of the Betting and Gaming Council.[49] In July , William Hill announced it was closing betting shops, saying this was because of the decision three months before to reduce the maximum stake on fixed-odds betting terminals to £2.[50] In August , the company said it would close a further shops that were not profitable during the COVID pandemic.

At the same time, the company returned £ million in furlough funds it had received from the government.[51]

The company confirmed in that UK operations will continue to be managed from Gibraltar.[52]

In March , William Hill closed 14 of its shops in the Republic of Ireland with the loss of 53 jobs.[53] In February it announced that the remaining 36 Irish shops were "under review"[54] pending the possible introduction of controversial gaming machines to Irish shops.[44] In , William Hill sold its remaining betting shops in Ireland to BoyleSports because of what a William Hill employee described as "the restrictive nature" of the laws governing retail betting in Ireland.[55]

William Hill had pulled out of Italy in after just two years, a failure which cost the company £1m in wasted investment.[56] The company's joint venture in Spain ended in January with partners Codere buying William Hill's 50% stakeholding for €1,[57] after both parties had invested an initial €10 million in April [58] William Hill lost £m in and £m in on the venture.[59]

In June , William Hill expanded to Nevada, the only U.S.

state that then allowed full-fledged sports wagering,[60] buying three chains of sportsbooks: Lucky's, Leroy's, and the satellite operations of Club Cal Neva, for a total of $53 million.[61] The deals at the time gave the company control of 55 per cent of the state's sportsbook locations, and 11 per cent of statewide book revenue.[60] All three chains were to be rebranded under the William Hill name.[61]

In , three Australian brands, Sportingbet, Centrebet and Tom Waterhouse, were purchased by the company[62] and later rebranded as William Hill Australia in Both Sportingbet and Centrebet were acquired in March of the year for $m and $m, respectively, while was brought in during August , for an initial $34m.[63]Tom Waterhouse was appointed chief executive officer of William Hill Australia in July [64]

In March , William Hill sanctioned the sale of its Australian business to CrownBet holdings for an estimated value of AU $ million.

The sale ended the company's time in Australia after entering the market in [65] In preparation for Brexit, in June , William Hill announced that it is opening a new satellite office in Malta.[52]

Following the decision of the US Supreme Court regarding the case of Murphy v.

National Collegiate Athletic Association in June , the state of New Jersey effectively legalised gambling on athletic events due to a previously successful state ballot initiative. William Hill entered arrangements to provide bookmaking services to both Monmouth Park Racetrack and Ocean Resort Casino in the state of New Jersey.[66]

On 3 August , the bookmaker opened the first full-service betting operation housing professional sports teams in the U.S.

at Capitol One Arena in Washington D.C.[67]

In January , a joint venture between William Hill and Argenbingo received a licence to offer online gambling services in the Argentinean province of Buenos Aires.[68] On 5 May , William Hill launched in Colombia following the acquisition of a majority stake in Alfabet.[69]

In , William Hill threatened to withdraw its sponsorship of various horse races, in its dispute with racecourses over TurfTV.[70] William Hill, which had been the strongest critic of TurfTV, was later forced into a humiliating climbdown and subscribed to the channel in January [71]

Away from horse racing, William Hill has sponsored many other sporting events, including the Scottish Cup from to ,[72] the PDC World Darts Championship from to and the Scottish Professional Football League since [73] The company also sponsors the annual William Hill Sports Book of the Year award, dedicated to rewarding excellence in sports writing.[74]

Advertising

In May , The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned William Hill from running a television advert which it found "condoned gambling behaviour that was socially irresponsible".[75] In October , the ASA banned a poster and national press advertisement which promised "£ of free bets".

The ad was found to be "likely to mislead" and in breach of a Committee of Advertising Practice code relating to "truthfulness".[76]

In March , an advert stating "William Hill best prices fact" was banned by the ASA. It had breached several Committee of Advertising Practice codes, including those relating to "substantiation", "truthfulness" and "honesty".[77] In September , William Hill made a television advert featuring the single "A Bit Patchy".[78] In December , adverts stating "Best Prices on the Best Horses" and "Best Prices on the Best Teams" were banned by the ASA.

It had breached several Committee of Advertising Practice code, including those relating to "misleading advertising", "Substantiation" and "Comparisons". The ASA also banned a different advert claiming "Best Odds Guaranteed" because it was misleading.[79]

In June , William Hill launched its new master brand.

As part of the relaunch, the company launched a new TV advert featuring its brand ambassadors Tony McCoy, Robbie Savage, Rio Ferdinand and Jermaine Jenas and used the Neil Diamond song Sweet Caroline.[80]

Criticism

Scientific papers dealing with the statistics of sports betting mention that William Hill blocks customers or limits their stakes if William Hill gets the impression that they may try to benefit from arbitrage.[81][82]

See also

References

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