Will Hill Moving to Playtech

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.


Crypto loses another major player.
Well, that's interesting...W.Hill said that they weren't going to run the Meister Slots because they don't have a relationship with Casinomeister (which has no bearing on who runs the slots or not, any Crypto can - it's up to the casino). Maybe this is the REAL reason - they were moving and didn't want anyone to know. Good excuse :p
 
It's a major joint ownership deal involving Playtech and Will Hill and creating a new company with projected revenues worth GBP 190 million, headed by ex-L&G CEO Henry Birch - news is currently breaking all over the place.
 
Its fantastic news for us.

For those of you that dont know (and that will be a few of you as I dont post on here very often!), Webroute services is the UK Marketing arm of Blackpool Club Casino.

The deal means that Webroute will cease to exist and will become William Hill Online, and will not only be promoting Blackpool Club in the UK, but also William Hill, *and* also all the current CPays brands (as far as I understand) in the Uk too.

Its a massive deal and I am having lots of meetings today to try and understand the new structure, but the upshot is that in 6 months time there will be a new interface that allows affiliates to promote all the above brands through one company.

Obviously all this will take time, but if anyone has any questions then just post them here and I will try and answer them to the best of my ability.


Neil Mitchell
Senior Account Manager
Webroute Services
email - neil@webrouteservices.co.uk
MSN - TheBoyMitchell@hotmail.co.uk
Old skool - 02078389399
 
Thanks for the information - Webroute Services, eh? The official statement was not specific about what was referred to as Playtech "purchased assets".

Anyone else we know???

Here's our take on the deal:

NEW ONLINE GAMING GIANT CREATED

Will Hill and Playtech get it together in joint deal - but who are the "purchased assets"?

Starting the week off with a resounding bang is the news that two major listed companies on the London stock exchange, UK gambling group William Hill plc and online gambling software provider Playtech plc, are to combine in a new venture branded William Hill Online headed by ex- Leisure and Gaming CEO Henry Birch.

William Hill will control and operate William Hill Online, which will remain a consolidated subsidiary, with Playtech's share of profits shown as a minority interest.

On a pro forma basis for the year ending 31 December 2008, William Hill Online is expected to generate net revenues of GBP 190 million and EBITA of GBP 75 million. Net revenues are targeted to grow by more than 50 percent between 2008 and 2010. In 2009, focus will be on net revenue growth with margins maintained. In 2010, focus will be on continued net revenue growth and improving margins.

The transaction is expected to require limited upfront cash with capital expenditure, transaction costs and integration costs of approximately GBP 24 million.

The move will come as a disappointment to Will Hill's software provider Cryptologic which has apparently not been included in the deal. Will Hill boss Ralph Topping commented some months ago that he had major plans to expand the group's online gambling involvement, perhaps ultimately resulting in a substantial proportion of group revenues being derived from this source.

Commenting on the deal this week, Topping said: "This transaction is a transformational step for William Hill consistent with our stated strategy to increase online gaming and international earnings. William Hill Online will be the leading European online gaming and sports betting business and the clear online leader amongst UK land based gaming and betting operators.

"The transaction generates significant shareholder value and enhanced growth prospects for William Hill."

The venture sees the creation of a powerful online casino, poker and sportsbetting firm branded William Hill Online, which will acquire affiliates of Playtech plc, with the software provider initially holding a 29 percent share and William Hill plc owning 71 percent. Playtech software will be used in the five year exclusive venture.

Playtech will acquire certain online gaming marketing assets, businesses and contracts from affiliates and other third parties for up to GBP 144.5 million in cash and sell the majority of the assets to William Hill in return for its 29 percent stake in William Hill Online. The software provider has the option to lift its stake to 32 percent if certain conditions are met.

The unidentified (Playtech) purchased assets will bring "online marketing and customer retention expertise, an extensive affiliate network and established European customers and profits to the deal" a joint statement advises. "In addition, the employees of the purchased assets have experience and knowledge in the operation of Playtech gaming software." This will make William Hill Online the leading European online gaming and sports betting operation.

William Hill has the option to buy Playtech's stake on an independent fair value basis, exercisable after four and six years.

Playtech has the right to receive a portion of the option proceeds in William Hill shares, not exceeding 10 percent of Will Hill's outstanding share capital at the time of issue.

The five-year deal will give William Hill access to Playtech’s online casino and poker technology, and will see a major boost to Playtech's rapidly growing iPoker network.

Henry Birch, an experienced online gambling executive who previously served as CEO at the Leisure & Gaming land and online gambling group, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the new company. Other members of the executive team will be Eyal Sanoff as Chief Marketing Officer, Peter Marcus as Chief Operating Officer and finance and legal functions provided by William Hill.

A statement from the parties said that the transaction is expected to be earnings positive in the first full year of ownership, and significantly accretive going forward.

The Will Hill-Playtech agreement combines two complementary businesses. William Hill Interactive brings strength of brand, sports betting expertise and an established UK customer base and profit stream to the table. The as yet unidentified Playtech "purchased assets" bring online marketing and customer retention expertise, an extensive affiliate network and an established European customer base and profit stream.

For the six months ended 1 July 2008, the "purchased assets" repeatedly referred to in the agreement generated net revenues of GBP 26 million and pro forma EBITA of GBP 8 million the new partners have revealed.

In addition, access to Playtech's software network is expected to provide greater liquidity for online poker and lead to increased customer retention, customer reactivation and player lifetime values. The Orbis sportsbetting software platform, which will be used for the sports betting business, remains on track for implementation in late November 2008.

In a seperate statement, Will Hill said that revenues were being maintained despite the increasingly bad UK economic news. In the 15 weeks to October 14, gross win climbed by 9 percent compared with the same period a year ago.

“This is a solid operational performance by the Group since the half year, demonstrating the resilience of the business against a challenging economic environment; to date we see little evidence that our business has been impacted by the economic downturn,” chief executive Ralph Topping said.

“With nine months of the year completed, and notwithstanding that comparatives become tougher over the final quarter, the board remains comfortable with market expectations for the group.”

Retail gross win climbed by 10 percent, with gaming machines posting a 14 percent rise and over the counter betting a 7 percent rise.

Interactive betting gross win, which includes online gambling, climbed by 21 percent, while that of telephone betting, which accounts for about 4 percent of revenues, was up 30 percent.
 
That is spot on - and a *really* nice post!

Yes. Webroute Services is one of the aquired assets. From what I understand, Playetch went out a bought what was necessary for the deal and then that was their part of the deal. These companies were then handed over to William Hill as part of the restructure and rebrand. they include customer services companies, payment handling companies, actual casino brands (the brands that were Account Managerd by Cpays are believed to be a part of the deal too I understand), international marketing agencies and all the other smaller companies (creative agencies etc) that will be included in the rebranding and restructure.

From what dealing I have had with Peter Marcus and Henry Birch, they are both very positive in their attitude towards growing the company and have both confirmed that they are not looking to reduce the workforce in any way, but instead to grow it where necessary to offer the kind of services that the worlds largest gaming company will produce.

This can only be good news for affiliates and players alike, as the integration of wallets, the supply of new games and offers, and the harnessing of the best online managers, retention managers and white label managers in the business working across all the different brands can only be a positive thing.
 
It's good seeing some familiar names - people who have been involved with Casinomeister and its ventures in a very good way.
 
So does this mean CPays will now cease to be and come in under the William Hill brand? That has to be good news :)

As an aside, anyone know what happened to Will Hill Bossmedia deal "William Hill Sports Casino" a couple of years back?
 
Ah here we go - the affiliate PR:

All Affiliates



A Very Big Welcome to Europes Leading Online Gaming and Sports Betting Group.

You will have read in the news this morning of one of the largest mergers in online gaming and sports betting history. We are very excited to inform you that with this merger the affiliate programs of William Hill, Cpays, & Webroute Affiliates will together form one of the largest affiliate networks in the world, working with Europes leading online gaming and sports betting company.

During 2009 we will be joining together to form a new super affiliate program. The aim of this new program will be to provide our affiliates with the very best service and opportunities in the industry

Our Group Affiliate Guarantee ensures that you will continue to receive lifetime revenue share or CPAs on all your existing and new players referred, no matter which affiliate program you are with

You will be able to promote casinos, poker, bingo, sportsbook, games and skill games all using the same affiliate program

Our players will be using some of the very best software and systems in the market such as Playtech Casino, I-Poker, Virtue Fusion & Playtech Bingo and the Orbis sports betting platform

A true global reach using one affiliate program with a large presence in all major markets except for the USA

An affiliate senior management team with some of the very best people from the industry

A brand new affiliate management software which we believe will be the best anywhere in the market

These changes will start early next year and we should be fully integrated by the end of 2009.

As we said above, your existing affiliated players and revenue along with any new players will continue to be paid to you in the normal way; so the only changes that you will see are additional services and we hope additional players and revenue that we can both share in.

We will keep you informed over the next few months of developments and in the meantime dont hesitate to contact your existing affiliate manager should you have any queries or questions.



Yours sincerely





Henry Birch

CEO

William Hill Online









--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


********************************************** The contents of this e-mail are subject to contract in all cases and William Hill PLC, its subsidiaries or affiliates make no contractual commitment save where confirmed by hard copy. The contents of this e-mail do not necessarily represent the views of William Hill PLC, its subsidiaries or affiliates. We accept no liability, including liability for negligence, in respect of any statement in this e-mail. This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are confidential, may be subject to legal privilege and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use or dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify us immediately, then delete this e-mail. Please note that William Hill can accept no responsibility for viruses and it is your responsibility to scan any emails and their attachments. This message was from William Hill PLC whose registered office is Greenside House, 50 Station Road, Wood Green, London N22 7TP. Company Registration Number: 4212563 England. *********************************************
 
So does this mean CPays will now cease to be and come in under the William Hill brand? That has to be good news :)

But then I won't have them to pick on for most annoying Affiliate Program:
Best Worst 2008
Best Worst 2005

Guess I'll have to find someone else.

Funny thing, I didn't get this indication from the CPays people I met a few weeks ago at CAP. They were intent on getting their image cleared up here at Casinomeister. There was no indication that they were to be assimilated by WH. :D
 
William Hill were using Boss Media to promote into Europe but it didnt go as planned and the contract got cancelled.

As an aside - how do I 'Thank' people on here? Where is the button?
 
Then on the sportsbetting side Will Hill went through a disastrous and very expensive exercise trying to set up its own proprietary sportsbook operations. This has already been exhaustively documented.

Wisdom prevailed in the end and they brought the Orbis folks in to integrate a bespoke sportsbetting solution for them, which is referred to in the original statement reporting the Playtech-Will Hill joint venture - that should put the past behind them and get the sportsbetting elements off to a sound future.
 
Does anyone know if crypto William Hill is to be shut down or it will continue to work for a long time yet? I play in William Hill in old version
You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.
and wonder if they are going to change it for William Hill Casino Club (the link of which you can see on that site as well). Thanks for your help.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Click here for Red Cherry Casino

Meister Ratings

Back
Top