2nd Apr 2008 11:47
William Hill PLC02 April 2008 2 April 2008 WILLIAM HILL AWARDED FIRST MADRID SPORTS BETTING LICENCE William Hill PLC today announces that the Madrid Autonomous Region in Spain hasawarded a sports betting licence to Victoria Apuestas SA (Victoria), a jointventure between the William Hill group and Codere SA. Victoria is the first company in Madrid to be authorised to open a sportsbetting operation since the region legislated to allow sports betting. Victoriaexpects to begin operating within the next few days, initially from the largestbingo hall in Madrid, the Canoe. It plans to secure 70 points of sale in theMadrid area during the course of 2008. Each joint venture partner has initially invested €10million. Last October Victoria, through its subsidiary, Victoria Garaipen Apustak SL alsoobtained one of three licences issued in the Basque region. Ralph Topping, CEO of William Hill, commented, "Our development into Spain, inpartnership with Codere, offers a natural expansion of our business and anopportunity to utilise our expertise in sports betting within new markets." Enquiries Ralph Topping, Chief Executive Tel: 020 8918 3910 Ian Spearing, Group Director, Corporate Tel: 020 8918 3937Strategy and Business Development Deborah Spencer, Brunswick Tel: 020 7404 5959 Notes to Editors Founded in 1934, William Hill is one of the leading providers of fixed oddsbookmaking services, offering odds and taking bets on a wide range of sportingand other events, as well as offering gaming machines in licensed bettingoffices and operating online casino, poker and fames sites as well as twogreyhound stadia. It is a market leader in all major betting channels in the UK with anestablished international presence through its online business. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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