William Hill PLC Directorate Change (6097E)

TIDMWMH

RNS Number : 6097E

William Hill PLC

19 October 2018

William Hill PLC (the "Company")

Board changes

19 October 2018

Director appointment

William Hill PLC (LSE: WMH) announces the appointment of Gordon Wilson, President and CEO of Travelport Worldwide Limited (Travelport) (NYSE: TVPT), to its Board of Directors as an independent Non-Executive Director with effect from 2(nd) January 2019.

Travelport is a leading travel distribution platform, powering real time flight, hotel and car bookings for the global travel industry as well as providing mobile apps and technology services to airlines such as easyJet, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic and Delta. Gordon has been the CEO since 2011 and led the company through its successful Initial Public Offering in New York in 2014. Whilst headquartered in the United Kingdom the business generates about one third of its activity in each of the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific.

Roger Devlin, Chairman of William Hill PLC commented: "Gordon brings extensive experience of the development and use of proprietary technology and data at scale on a global basis. This, alongside his knowledge of the US market in particular, bring great value to William Hill given our strategic priorities and focus on capturing the opportunity provided by sports betting regulation in the US."

Gordon Wilson also Chairs travel payments provider eNett, a joint venture company in which Travelport is the majority shareholder and which is now the leading cross border international commercial payments business operating in the travel industry. He is a member of the executive committee of the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Gordon Wilson commented "It is a fascinating time to join the Board of William Hill and I look forward to bringing my experience to the table to play a part in the ongoing growth of the business."

On joining the Board, Gordon Wilson will become a member of the Board's Corporate Responsibility, and Nomination Committees.

Director resignation and changes to Senior Independent Non-Executive Director

William Hill PLC also announces that Sir Roy Gardner, Senior Independent Non-Executive Director of the Company is to step down from the Board of Directors with effect from 20 November 2018, due to anticipated commitments. Mark Brooker, currently Non-Executive Director of the Company will assume the role of Senior Independent Non-Executive Director effective from the date of Sir Roy Gardner's departure.

Mark Brooker is currently Chair of the Corporate Responsibility Committee, and is a member of the Nomination Committee, Remuneration Committee and Audit and Risk Management Committee.

He was formerly Chief Operating Officer and an Executive Director at Betfair Group having previously held the position of Managing Director of the company's Sports business. Prior to joining Betfair Mark had extensive experience in corporate broking at Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and NatWest Markets.

Roger Devlin commented: "We thank Roy for his extensive contribution to William Hill since joining the Board in 2014, a period which had substantial change. Most recently, Roy led the Board's process to appoint a new Chairman. We also welcome Mark Brooker to the role of Senior Independent Non-Executive Director reflecting his significant input since joining the Board in April 2017."

OAM: Additional Regulated Information

William Hill LEI: 213800MDW41W5UZQIX82

Luke Thomas

Company Secretary

19 October 2018

Notes

   1.   Fees: 

Gordon Wilson

As Non-Executive Director of William Hill PLC, Gordon Wilson will receive standard annual fees of GBP55,000 per annum.

Mark Brooker

As the Senior Independent Non-Executive Director of William Hill PLC, in addition to his Non-Executive Director base fees of GBP55,000 per annum fees and his fees as Chair of the Corporate Responsibility Committee of GBP18,000, Mark Brooker will receive additional fees of GBP15,000 per annum.

2. The Board has determined that Gordon Wilson will be an independent Non-Executive Director, in accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code.

3. In accordance with obligations under Listing Rule 9.6.13R, Gordon holds the following directorships of a publicly quoted company in the previous five years:

-- Gordon was appointed to the board of Travelport on 1 June 2011. Travelport was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014.

The Company confirms there are no other disclosures which require to be made in accordance with LR 9.6.13R.

 
4. Board composition: 
 With effect from 2 January 2019, 
 the composition of the Board of 
 William Hill PLC will be as follows:Roger Devlin     Non-Executive Chairman 
 Philip Bowcock   Chief Executive Officer 
 Ruth Prior       Chief Financial Officer 
 Mark Brooker     Senior Independent Non-Executive 
                   Director 
 Georgina Harvey  Independent Non-Executive Director 
 David Lowden     Independent Non-Executive Director 
 Robin Terrell    Independent Non-Executive Director 
  Gordon Wilson    Independent Non-Executive Director 
 

Enquiries

Luke Thomas

Company Secretary

William Hill PLC

[phone]

About William Hill

William Hill PLC is one of the world's leading betting and gaming companies, employing over 16,000 people. Its origins are in the UK where it was founded in 1934, and where it is listed on the London Stock Exchange. The majority of its $2.1 billion annual revenues are still derived from the UK, where it has a national presence of licensed betting offices and one of the leading online betting and gaming services. In 2012, it established William Hill US with a focus on retail and mobile operations in Nevada, which is now the largest sports betting business in the USA. William Hill US currently operates 108 race and sports books in Nevada and the state's leading mobile sports betting app. It operates a racebook in Nevada and has licensed operations in The Bahamas and St. Kitts. Following the ruling in May 2018 by the Supreme Court that the federal ban on state sponsored sports betting was unconstitutional, the company is planning to operate where permitted by law throughout America. William Hill US is currently operating in all five states to have legalised sports betting - Nevada, New Jersey, Mississippi, Delaware and West Virginia. It has partnered with IGT to provide sports betting services lottery operators in the US and the partners successfully joint-bid to supply sports betting services to the lottery in Rhode Island. William Hill has operations in Italy and Spain and serves online customers throughout the world from its Online headquarters in Gibraltar.

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October 19, 2018 06:00 ET (10:00 GMT)