William Hill PLC Agreement on NYX (6617Y)

TIDMWMH

RNS Number : 6617Y

William Hill PLC

07 December 2017

William Hill and Scientific Games Reach Agreement on NYX

7 December 2017

William Hill PLC (LSE: WMH) today announced it has reached agreement with Scientific Games Corporation (NASDAQ: SGMS) to unconditionally support Scientific Games' proposed acquisition of NYX (TSXV: NYX). Following the agreement all the parties have withdrawn from all litigation in the US and UK.

In connection with the proposed acquisition Scientific Games has agreed to acquire William Hill's ordinary shares and convertible preference shares in NYX with William Hill receiving CAN$2.40 a share for the 6.8 million ordinary shares it owns in NYX and circa GBP87m for its convertible preference shares.

Commenting on the announcement William Hill CEO Philip Bowcock said: "These agreements safeguard William Hill's technology roadmap and relationship with NYX and end all legal action between the parties. Additionally we are pleased to expand our commercial relationship with Scientific Games in the US market which offers considerable potential should the Supreme Court ruling on PASPA, which is expected next year, provide states with the power to regulate sports betting. We will unconditionally support Scientific Games in their acquisition of NYX and we have no hesitation in recommending other shareholders to do the same."

OAM: Agreement Statement regarding an agreement between entities

William Hill LEI: 213800MDW41W5UZQIX82

Note to Editors:

Supreme Court and 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act ("PASPA")

The Supreme Court is set to rule next year on whether the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act ("PASPA") impermissibly directed states to keep bans in place. The case was called in by the Supreme Court and heard on December 4(th) following attempts by New Jersey to regulate sports betting which commenced in 2014.

If the Supreme Court were to declare PASPA unconstitutional in their decision which is expected before June next year then individual states would effectively have the power to regulate sports betting in the future. A small number of states have grandfathered rights because they had regulated sports betting to varying degrees prior to PASPA. Nevada, where William Hill is the market leader, remains the main sports betting market in the US with only limited sports lotteries available in Delaware, Montana and Oregon. The Supreme Court ruling is anticipated before June 2018.

For further information contact:

Media enquiries Ciaran O'Brien, William Hill [phone]

                                                    Andrew Porter / Oliver Hughes, Brunswick       [phone] 

Investor / analyst enquiries Lyndsay Wright [phone]

About William Hill PLC

William Hill, The Home of Betting, is one of the world's leading betting and gaming companies, employing around 16,000 people. Founded in 1934, it is the one of the UK's largest bookmakers with around 2,350 licensed betting offices that provide betting opportunities on a wide range of sporting and non-sporting events, gaming on machines and numbers-based products including lotteries. The Group's Online business (www.williamhill.com) is one of the world's leading online betting and gaming businesses, providing customers with the opportunity to access William Hill's products online, through their smartphone or tablet, by telephone and by text services. William Hill US was established in June 2012 and provides land-based and mobile sports betting services in Nevada, and is the exclusive risk manager for the State of Delaware's sports lottery. William Hill Australia is one of the largest online betting businesses in Australia after the Group acquired Sportingbet and tomwaterhouse.com in 2013. It offers sports betting products online, by telephone and via mobile devices. William Hill PLC is listed on the London Stock Exchange. The Group generates revenues of cGBP1.6bn a year.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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December 07, 2017 02:01 ET (07:01 GMT)