William Hill confirms Tom Waterhouse acquisition
Initial fee of AU$34m will rise to more than $100m subject to performance
William Hill has confirmed it has completed the acquisition of Australian online bookmaker Tom Waterhouse for an initial fee of AU$34m (£20m).
As eGaming Review exclusively revealed earlier this week, Tom Waterhouse will become part of William Hill Australia, which also includes the Sportingbet and Centrebet brands.
The price of the buyout could rise under the terms to more than $100m, subject to tomwaterhouse.com achieving incremental operating profit between $10m and $30m in the year to 31 December 2015.
According to Hills, the Tom Waterhouse business is not currently profitable and it expects the operating profit contribution to be marginally negative in the year to 31 December 2013 and marginally positive in the following year.
Tom Waterhouse himself will remain as managing director of the brand and joins William Hill’s Australian management team, reporting to Michael Sullivan.
“We are pleased to have secured this acquisition. International expansion is a key part of our growth strategy and making Australia our second home is a priority,” said Ralph Topping, chief executive of William Hill.
“The Sportingbet acquisition gave us a strong and proven platform with an experienced management team. Acquiring tomwaterhouse.com gives us a rapidly growing business that appeals to a complementary customer base.”
“I am excited by tomwaterhouse.com becoming part of the William Hill family. Our customers will benefit from us being able to offer a more extensive product range than before and the kind of innovations that William Hill has already brought to the UK market,” added Tom Waterhouse, managing director of tomwaterhouse.com.
“We will be able to use shared resources and get access to great technology that will help us continue to improve the customers’ website and mobile experience. I look forward to becoming part of the William Hill Australia team to capitalise on this opportunity.”