William Hill Rejects Revised Offer from Rank And 888
William Hill declines modified offer from Rank and 888
15 August 2016
Bookmaker William Hill has declined a revised takeover approach from 888 and Rank, stating it still "substantially" underestimates the company.
William Hill said the new proposition offered its investors an approximated worth of 352p a share, compared to a previous deal of 339p a share.
Rank and 888 declared their view that the deal was "a compelling worth creation opportunity for William Hill".
But William Hill stated the modified offer was "highly opportunistic".
"The board continues to see no benefit in engaging with the consortium," the company added.
The modified takeover proposal would see William Hill shareholders get 199p in money and 0.86 of shares in BidCo - the company being formed by 888 and Rank to buy William Hill - for each share they own.
William Hill investors would end up with 48.8% of the combined group.
Under the previous technique, William Hill shareholders were used 199p in cash and 0.725 BidCo shares, leaving financiers with 44.6% of the combined group.
'Substantial risk'
"This revised proposal continues to substantially undervalue the company and the cash element of the proposal has actually not altered. Therefore, the board sees no benefit in interesting," stated William Hill's chairman, Gareth Davis.
"As we have actually said before, this is highly opportunistic and complex and does not improve the tactical positioning of William Hill.
"The board continues to believe we have a strong group to provide superior value to our investors and trading at the start of the second half provides us restored confidence in our stand-alone strategy.
William Hill declines modified offer from Rank and 888
15 August 2016
Bookmaker William Hill has declined a revised takeover approach from 888 and Rank, stating it still "substantially" underestimates the company.
William Hill said the new proposition offered its investors an approximated worth of 352p a share, compared to a previous deal of 339p a share.
Rank and 888 declared their view that the deal was "a compelling worth creation opportunity for William Hill".
But William Hill stated the modified offer was "highly opportunistic".
"The board continues to see no benefit in engaging with the consortium," the company added.
The modified takeover proposal would see William Hill shareholders get 199p in money and 0.86 of shares in BidCo - the company being formed by 888 and Rank to buy William Hill - for each share they own.
William Hill investors would end up with 48.8% of the combined group.
Under the previous technique, William Hill shareholders were used 199p in cash and 0.725 BidCo shares, leaving financiers with 44.6% of the combined group.
'Substantial risk'
"This revised proposal continues to substantially undervalue the company and the cash element of the proposal has actually not altered. Therefore, the board sees no benefit in interesting," stated William Hill's chairman, Gareth Davis.
"As we have actually said before, this is highly opportunistic and complex and does not improve the tactical positioning of William Hill.
"The board continues to believe we have a strong group to provide superior value to our investors and trading at the start of the second half provides us restored confidence in our stand-alone strategy.