William Hill PLC

William Hill PLC

William Hill PLC originated in 1934 when William Hill, a former professional wrestler and bookmaker, opened his first betting shop in London. By 1961, the company had expanded to a network of shops across the UK and established a telephone betting service. Following legalization of off-course betting in 1961, William Hill became a dominant high-street presence, with ownership passing through several corporate hands, including Grand Metropolitan and later private equity firms. The company operates a diversified bookmaking model encompassing retail betting shops, online sports wagering, casino games, and bingo. It has historically focused on the UK and Ireland, but through its acquisition by Caesars in 2021, it gained a platform to expand into US markets via Caesars's sportsbook network. Its infrastructure includes proprietary trading algorithms, risk management systems, and a retail estate of over 1,400 shops at the time of its acquisition. William Hill employed roughly 8,000 people prior to the Caesars takeover. The company maintained a regulated status under the UK Gambling Commission and faced multiple investigations into anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures. In August 2023, Caesars announced it would sell William Hill's non-US assets to 888 Holdings (now Evoke PLC), completing the separation of the international business from the US operations. A distinctive structural feature of William Hill is its long history as a publicly traded company (1970s–2021) before being taken private by Caesars. This corporate structure, rather than a family or private ownership, shaped its governance and capital allocation strategy. The subsequent bifurcation of its international and US assets into separate entities under Caesars and Evoke marks a rare example of a legacy bookmaker being unbundled post-acquisition.