14th May 2009 07:00
William Hill PLC
Update on joint venture in Spain
14 May 2009
William Hill PLC (William Hill or the Group) (LSE: WMH) announces that, following a strategic review by William Hill and Codere of Victoria Apuestas, their joint venture in Spain, the parties have today agreed to the gradual withdrawal of William Hill from the joint venture over the coming months. Codere will continue to manage the business with bookmaking services being provided by William Hill.
Victoria Apuestas opened its first outlet in Madrid in April 2008 and now trades across 98 locations within the Madrid and Basque regions. Achieving relevant scale for the business has always been dependent upon a substantial growth in the number of outlets. Achieving this scale has proved problematic because of the slow granting of local regulatory consents and the slower-than-anticipated regulatory changes within other regions. These factors, coupled with the difficult economic situation within Spain, were likely to lead to additional capital requirements and a delay in achieving William Hill's target return for the venture.
In these circumstances William Hill has decided to focus its international sports betting strategy on the internet via William Hill Online. The withdrawal from the joint venture is not expected to have an impact on the Group's expectations for 2009.
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Enquiries: |
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William Hill PLC |
Ralph Topping, Chief Executive |
Tel +44 (0) 20 8918 3614 |
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Simon Lane, Group Finance Director |
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Lyndsay Wright, Head of IR |
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Brunswick |
Fiona Antcliffe / Deborah Spencer |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7404 5959 |
Notes to editors:
William Hill is one of the UK's leading betting and gaming companies. It is one of the UK's largest bookmakers, and also operates in Ireland, with a total of approximately 2,300 LBOs in the UK that provide betting opportunities on a wide range of sporting and non-sporting events and, in the UK, offer gaming machines. The Group's online business, William Hill Online, is one of the leading European online betting and gaming business by profitability, providing sports betting, casino games, poker, bingo, numbers betting and skill games.
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