William Hill's Nevada licence delayed
Regulators investigate the bookmakers' head of strategy and business deal with Playtech
William Hill’s land-based gaming licence application in Nevada has been delayed, as regulators in the Silver State take more time to investigate key personnel and its business ties with Playtech.
Despite Hills telling shareholders that the licensing process would be completed by the summer, it does not appear on the Nevada Gaming Control Board (GCB) agenda for May.
According to The Guardian newspaper, the delay is due to the GCB investigating two issues in more detail. These include Robin Chhabra, Hill’s head of strategy and corporate development who was responsible for the bookmaker’s deals to acquire three sportsbetting companies in Nevada, and the company’s ties to Israeli software provider Playtech, with which William Hill Online has a troubled joint venture.
Former equity analyst Chhabra was fined approximately US$150,000 by the Financial Services Authority in February 2010 after he “passed confidential information” to a friend, The Guardian reported.
In February last year William Hill took out a court injunction against Playtech to block a rumoured £2.2bn merger between the software provider and rival Ladbrokes, seen as an attempt to preserve Hills’ exclusive deal, before a mass walkout of staff from Hills’ Tel Aviv office in October saw the company’s online marketing operations shut down for ten days.
As a result Hills CEO Ralph Topping admitted that the JV needed to change during the operator’s full year results presentation in February. Topping went on to reveal that Hills will make a decision on whether to exercise its call option on the partnership by the end of the summer.
“We need to be adult about the [fact that the] partnership needs to alter or we exercise the call option,” he explained at the time.
William Hill’s ability to obtain a licence will impact whether or not deals it struck for a total of $55m last year will come to fruition. It made its first foray into the US market when it agreed to buy American Wagering Inc in April 2011, which operates 72 sportsbooks and kiosks under the Leroy’s brand, for $18 million.
The following month saw Hills agree a deal to acquire Nevada and Delaware-based sports betting company Brandywine for $14.25m. The bookmaker also paid $21m to casino and hotel group the Sierra Development Company for the Cal Neva Sportsbook Division, which runs 31 sportsbooks in the Silver State.