The ‘bidding war’ for William Hill is already a one-horse race
That’s not the only reason to bet big on Caesars, though.
The pair are already joint venture partners in the burgeoning American sports betting market, and Caesars has dropped a bombshell about the tie-up, threatening to end it if William Hill is bought by anyone else, including Apollo, of course.
The bookmaker will be loath to jeopardise the agreement. It has made serious inroads into the US after a crackdown on controversial fixed odds betting terminals dealt a critical blow to its traditional UK high street operations.
The deal gives William Hill access to sports betting in all the US group’s casinos across the 18 states where it has been legal since a 2018 Supreme Court ruling overturned a Federal ban, paving the way for liberalisation.
It has already built up a 29pc market share, prompting betting billionaire Fred Done to snap up a 6pc stake in William Hill on the basis that it is the “frontrunner” stateside.
As one of the world’s biggest buyout firms, Apollo boasts the firepower to gatecrash talks, but its track record in the gaming industry will surely count against it.
Caesars was forced into bankruptcy in 2015 under its previous guise as Harrah’s Entertainment, after a $31bn takeover at the hands of Apollo and TPG left it saddled with massive debts. William Hill’s board surely won’t want to risk a repeat of that.
