Poll: Is Scientific Games’ NYX acquisition good or bad news for William Hill?
This week we ask what the ramifications of the £465m deal could be for the UK bookmaker
Scientific Games set off all kinds of chain reactions last week with news of its £465m acquisition of NYX Gaming Group.
But one company that could be impacted more than most is William Hill – a shareholder in NYX after investing a total of £90m in various forms in the company to help fund its OpenBet acquisition.
It is expected the investment will be returned with a small profit for Hills, which is arguably a big positive after analysts had been writing down the value of the investment.
Goobody wrote last week: “Given the poor performance of NYX since the William Hill investment and the long duration of the loan, we believe people are likely to have been attaching a heavy discount to William Hill’s investment in valuation.”
However, there could a longer term setback for the operator which may no longer finds itself top of the list when it comes to development and technology projects at OpenBet.
The firm said last week its contract with OpenBet remains in place, but analysts questioned whether it lost a major strategic advantage by no longer being a part owner of the sportsbook provider.
Cenkos’ Simon French wrote: “It raises questions over William Hill’s sportsbook strategy given it invested in NYX and became its largest shareholder to have more influence over building out a global sports betting and trading platform in the coming years.”
Hill and OpenBet are in the midst of a three-year, £30m project to develop a new global platform for the operator’s entire global operations.
With that in mind, this week we ask whether the Scientific Games takeover of NYX is a positive or negative for William Hill.
Have your say below:
Is Scientific Games’ NYX acquisition good or bad news for William Hill? https://t.co/4OmgoVhRU4
— EGR Global (@EGRIntel) September 25, 2017