Tote is not for Will Hill
The UK government owned Tote betting and gambling company may still be up for
grabs although there is little new news on that front. Tote has an extensive
reach in the UK thanks to bookie shops all over the country and with penetration
into some of the smaller markets that the industry giants, William Hill and
Ladbrokes, have yet to compete within. Will Hill though, a land and online
casino gambling and betting group, is eyeing some of Tote’s land bookie shops
for their potential to flesh out Will Hill’s penetration into UK market.
The government announced earlier this year that Tote was going up for sale and
that all of the offers would be routed through Goldman Sachs for consideration.
Many land and online casinos have shown some interest in Tote and Tote’s many
assets, but the British government put a hold on continuing to consider any
offers because of the downturn in the UK economy – the government is considering
if waiting another year of half-year will fetch a better price for Tote.
Interestingly, although Will Hill would undoubtedly put in an offer to take over
Tote and all of the land betting group’s shops and interest anti-trust and
monopolies laws in the UK would prevent the takeover – the combined assets would
create an unfair monopoly in the market. CEO of Will Hill, Ralph Topping,
elaborated on the company’s hopes for the Tote betting shops, "We met with
Goldman Sachs to register an interest as part of the process. If they were going
to break up the business to get the best price, we'd be looking for some
'in-fill' outlets - in places where we aren't geographically represented at the
moment.”
Expanding the Will Hill business to include more betting shops in addition to
the company’s new interests in the online casino gambling industry will give
Will Hill more resiliency against any recessions in the UK or any slow periods
in any sectors of the gambling industry. |