William Hill Group is currently subject to a license review in Britain and has set aside £15m to cover the cost of a potential regulatory deal, potential buyer 888 Holdings has revealed.
The review and possible sanctions were revealed in documents relating to 888’s acquisition of William Hill’s non-U.S. business.
This update primarily covered an agreement between 888 and William Hill’s current owner Caesars to reduce the purchase price of the cash portion of William Hill’s assets by £250 million.
888 Holdings said the change was intended to “reflect the change in the macroeconomic and regulatory environment” since the deal was closed last year.
In the document, 888 revealed that William Hill is subject to an ongoing license review, launched after a compliance assessment conducted in July and August 2021. The operator is addressing certain points related to its social responsibility and obligations to combat money laundry.
William Hill anticipates to avoid market sanctions
As a result, William Hill has set aside around £15m in its financial statements for possible sanctions. The biggest regulatory settlement ever issued by the Gambling Commission was for Betway, which paid £11.6m for failures related to social responsibility and money laundering regulations for high-spending customers in 2020.
In addition, 888 added that Caesars also awarded compensation to “certain licensed entities” within the William Hill business. This deal would mean that Caesars would incur additional costs if any of the licenses held by the William Hill entities – which include the William Hill brand and Mr. Green – were suspended.
888 itself had also been the subject of regulatory action recently. Earlier this year, he was fined £9.4m for a range of social responsibility and money laundering failures, including setting his deposit limit for financial checks at £40,000.
Regarding the fine, Commission Chief Executive Andrew Rhodes warned that if similar failures recur, the regulator may have to “seriously consider the suitability of the operator” to fulfill its responsibilities as a licensee.
In response, 888 accepted the decision and said that since the regulator’s compliance assessment was completed in 2020, it has taken “immediate and appropriate” steps to update its policies and procedures.
Actions included implementing additional checks on player funding sources and loss limits, lowering thresholds for triggering alerts and customer interactions, and investing in their safer responsible gaming and compliance teams.
