William Hill have recently moved forward significantly on its October 2017 offer to acquire online gaming entity MRG. The offer remains open until later this month, and all indications to this point are that the deal will be completed by the deadline.
MRG currently holding remote gambling licenses across a number of European jurisdictions – Malta, the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Italy, Denmark and Latvia – so there has been a good amount of administrative tape to cut through. The deal is said to be worth in the region of £240 million.
Will Hill announced in a public statement this week that they had now been granted approvals from the competition authorities in all necessary jurisdictions, meaning that “the offer is no longer conditional upon any approvals from authorities.” All other roads to victory seem clear; MRG shareholders have been offered 69 Swedish Krona per share, an offer which the board of directors has advised them to take.
The cutoff for acceptance of the offer has been set for 17th January.
The acquisition is a logical move for the bookmaker, a solid gambit to increase its presence in the Nordic and other European markets. With a lot of expansion currently possible in the US and the FOBTs £2 max-bet reduction coming to the UK in April, consolidation in Europe is a bit of a no-brainer. Since October, the UK-based bookie has also announced a new UK & Ireland team to work out of Gibraltar and the impending creation of an international hub in Malta.
