16th Jul 2014 16:12
LONDON (Alliance News) - UK Bookmaker William Hill PLC Wednesday announced the early settlement of the earn out for its 2013 acquisition Tom Waterhouse NT Pty Ltd, and said it has appointed Tom Waterhouse as chief executive officer of William Hill Australia.
The group's Australian operations encompass the Sportingbet and Centrebet brands as well as tomwaterhouse.com. William Hill acquired tomwaterhouse.com in August last year for AUD35 million plus the earn-out, which it has now settled, of up to AUD70 million based on the incremental operating profit of the business in 2015.
William Hill said it has settled the earn-out ahead of schedule for AUD5 million, the equivalent of GBP2.8 million in cash. This compares to a potential cost valued at AUD1 million at the end of 2013. The AUD4 million difference will be booked as an exceptional cost in 2014, the company said.
William Hill also said it will book a further GBP1.8 million in exceptional costs in the first half of the year, linked to the restructuring of the William Hill Australia management team.
"Settling the earn-out ahead of schedule further improves William Hill Australia's operational and fiscal flexibility following the successful systems integration of tomwaterhouse.com into William Hill Australia in April 2014," the company said in its statement.
Tomwaterhouse.com, the online racing and sports betting business, was established in 2010. Prior to the business being acquired by William Hill, it was owned by members of the Waterhouse family.
William Hill shares closed 0.6% higher at 350.12 pence Wednesday. The announcement was made after the market close.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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