William Hill Returns Millions to Shareholders

3 Mar 2005

UNITED KINGDOM – As reported by the UK Independent: "William Hill, the bookmaker, plans to return £453m to shareholders after abandoning plans to expand into casinos.

"David Harding, chief executive of William Hill, yesterday said the changes to the Government's Gambling Bill, which has restricted new casino developments, had reduced potential for the company to build other gaming developments.

"…Mr Harding said: 'We looked at a number of proposals. If it had transpired that casino growth was going to outstrip sports betting growth then we would have been crazy to rule out getting involved in casino developments. But we can no longer see synergies from bringing betting and gaming together and we are ruling out a large-scale sideways move into casinos.'

"William Hill joins Gala, the bingo group, in pulling the plug on large-scale casino plans following the Government's decision to limit the number of new casinos allowed to 24. Gala had teamed up with the US gaming giant Harrah's Entertainment to build Las Vegas-style casinos in the UK, but as only eight of these supercasinos will now be allowed, it has abandoned its joint venture with Harrah's…"

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	William Hill Returns Millions to Shareholders 3 Mar 2005 UNITED KINGDOM – As reported by the UK Independent: "William Hill, the bookmaker, plans to return £453m to shareholders after abandoning plans to expand into casinos. "David Harding, chief executive of William Hill, yesterday said the changes to the Government's Gambling Bill, which has restricted new casino developments, had reduced potential for the company to build other gaming developments. "…Mr Harding said: 'We looked at a number of proposals. If it had transpired that casino growth was going to outstrip sports betting growth then we would have been crazy to rule out getting involved in casino developments. But we can no longer see synergies from bringing betting and gaming together and we are ruling out a large-scale sideways move into casinos.' "William Hill joins Gala, the bingo group, in pulling the plug on large-scale casino plans following the Government's decision to limit the number of new casinos allowed to 24. Gala had teamed up with the US gaming giant Harrah's Entertainment to build Las Vegas-style casinos in the UK, but as only eight of these supercasinos will now be allowed, it has abandoned its joint venture with Harrah's…"