Court clears William Hill's £2.9 billion takeover by US casino giant Caesars

William Hill's £2.9 billion takeover by US casino giant Caesars Entertainment is set to go through this week after it was belatedly sanctioned by a court on Tuesday.

The bookmaker said it was "pleased to announce" the acquisition had been sanctioned and that it anticipated suspension of trading in William Hill shares would come into effect by Thursday.

William Hill chairman Roger Devlin said: "The William Hill board is pleased that the court has confirmed the scheme of arrangement and the deal with Caesars will complete on April 22. Throughout this process we have said that this deal provides shareholders with a cash price that fairly balances both the exciting opportunities and risks inherent in the business and delivery of its strategy.

"I would like to pay tribute to William Hill’s revitalised senior leadership team and all our employees. They have delivered on important parts of its longer term growth strategy to realise the brand’s potential. The company is in excellent shape and looks forward to the future with confidence."

Caesars has said it is only interested in the US arm of William Hill and intends to sell off the remaining parts of the business.

Private equity group Apollo Global Management, which was the main competition to Caesars for William Hill, is understood to be among the front-runners to buy the bookmaker's operations outside the US, which would include both online and betting shop operations.

Online operator 888 also voiced an interest in bidding for the business, with Betfred expected to be a potential buyer for William Hill's chain of betting shops should they come on to the market.

The Caesars deal had been expected to go through following a hearing at the end of March but had been delayed following an intervention by two hedge funds, GWM Asset Management and HBK Capital Management.

They had written to the bookmaker's board ahead of the hearing, arguing that shareholders did not have enough information to approve the deal when voting for it in November.

It was reported the hedge funds wanted shareholders to have a second vote on the deal, although they had already voted overwhelmingly in favour of the takeover.

Read more on this subject:

William Hill await judgement before Caesars takeover deal can be completed

William Hill shareholders approve £2.9 billion takeover by casino giant Caesars

William Hill UK business set to be sold after Caesars agrees £2.9bn takeover

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