iGaming software company Playtech has announced that William Hill is initiating the valuation process for the former’s 29 percent stake in William Hill Online (WHO). Playtech informed the stock market earlier today that Hills have triggered the process to buy the stake and Playtech said it’s “committed to the smooth handover of the 29 percent stake in order to ensure a seamless transition and support WHO’s growth going forward.”
The joint venture hasn’t been without its problems and Hills CEO Ralph Topping even admitted earlier this year that he wanted WHO’s junior partner (Playtech) to “disappear”. It means the valuation process is likely to be rather fraught and Playtech’s founder/largest shareholder/ex-con Teddy Sagi isn’t known to deal in pennies. Rumor has it that Sagi will want £500m for Playtech’s part of the pie, which won’t surprise you if you’re familiar with his business dealings in the past. William Hill value the 29 percent at closer to £300m and the eventual price, if they can agree one, will likely sit between the two.
Spanish gaming operator CIRSA saw profit rise by 11.7 percent for the opening nine months of the year as the number came in at €240million. Revenue was up by 4.4 percent to €1.343billion and reflects the increasing strides the firm is taking into Spain’s recently regulated online gambling industry. As for the third quarter, revenue increased 4 percent to €445.9million and profit, which came in at €82.1m, was the highest the company has ever recorded. They also cited “good business development” in Latin America as another reason for their increased success.
3D gaming developer BetSoftGaming has signed a partnership with 188BET to provide their Slots3 game library to the Asian market. 188BET will carry 20 of BetSoft’s most popular titles on their Asian sportsbook site and Anthony Locke, head of product development at BetSoftGaming added: “This is a great opportunity to bring our Slots3 collection, the best 3D slots in the world, to more players than ever before.” BetSoft received a licence from the Alderney Gambling Control Commission back in October and even since then have been working at securing partnerships with Category 1 licensees in the jurisdiction.
