Caesars clears US antitrust waiting period for proposed William Hill acquisition

Caesars Entertainment announced it has cleared the federal antirust waiting period for its proposed $3.7bn acquisition of United Kingdom-based sportsbook William Hill.

Caesars also said the proposed deal has received approval from the Mississippi Gaming Commission and West Virginia Lottery. The pending acquisition is still waiting on confirmation from gaming officials in Nevada, New Jersey, Indiana and Pennsylvania as well as the final approval from the English High Court.

According to Caesars, it reached “early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (“HSR Act”) relating to the proposed combination with William Hill PLC, effective December 28, 2020.”

The Reno-Nevada-based company expects to close the William Hill transaction in March 2021.

Caesars announced it would buy William Hill in late September. Caesars already claims a 20% ownership in William Hill US. William Hill US operates a dozen Caesars sportsbooks across three states among its 170 total retail locations in America.

Last month William Hill took over operations of Caesars’ sports betting app, which was renamed Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill. The app is available in Nevada, New Jersey, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

The launch of the app came days after 86% of William Hill shareholders approved the Caesars merger.

Ezra Amacher

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