Rank and 888 No Longer Eye Merger With William Hill

LONDON—Rank Group PLC and 888 Holdings PLC no longer intend to make an offer for William Hill PLC, a move that would have been the latest big deal amid a flurry of consolidation in the gambling industry.

Casino and bingo hall operator Rank Group and online gambling group 888 Holdings made two offer proposals to bookmaker William Hill, the latest one valuing it at 394 pence a share, equivalent to around 2.5 billion pounds ($4.5 billion).

"The proposed transaction would have created a transformational force in the global betting and gaming industry and the U.K.'s largest multichannel gambling operator by revenue and profit and was expected to have unlocked substantial cost and revenue synergies," said Rank and 888 in a stock exchange statement Thursday.

"Notwithstanding 888 and Rank's belief in the inherent value of their proposals, it has not been possible to meaningfully engage with the board of William Hill," they added.

William Hill said following the Rank and 888 announcement that it will continue to focus on diversifying digitally and internationally and that it now expects full-year adjusted operating profit to be at the top end of its previously guided £ 260 million to £ 280 million range.

The merger talks were part of broader consolidation in the European gambling sector amid rising competition and taxation and tighter regulation.

In February 2015, 888 terminated talks and rejected a possible offer from William Hill as the companies failed to agree on an offer value. Later in 2015, 888 lost a bid to GVC Holdings PLC after the latter clinched a deal to buy online gambling firm Bwin.party digital PLC for £ 1.12 billion.

Razak Musah Baba contributed to this article

Write to Rory Gallivan at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 18, 2016 13:05 ET (17:05 GMT)

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