888 completes sale of Latvian gambling business

888 Holdings has sold its Latvian gambling assets to Finland’s Paf.

Latvia.- UK-listed 888 Holdings has announced the completion of its sale of MrGreen.LV and WilliamHill.LV. It has sold the Latvian operations to Paf, the gambling operator owned by the regional government of Finland’s Åland Islands, for €28m.

888 announced the sale last month. WilliamHill.LV only launched in Latvia in May last year, not long before 888 bought William Hill’s European assets from Caesars.

Lord Mendelsohn, executive chair of 888, said: “The sale of the Latvian business marks another positive step in the execution of our integration programme. This sale generates cash proceeds from a non-core market to support our deleveraging plans, as well as enabling reinvestment into our core and growth markets.”

Paf says it intends to develop a strong long-term presence in the Latvian market, which it entered in 2018. Paf CEO Christer Fahlstedt has described the deal as a good long-term investment for Paf. The two 888 brands reported Latvian revenue of £9m and EBITDA of £2.5m for 2022. They will continue to run under the same brands with no changes visible to customers, at least for the time being.

888 has been reducing its business to core assets to reduce debt after its purchase of William Hill. Revenue rose in 2022 but profit fell by 10 per cent due to the acquisition, and losses reached £116m. It is also evaluating the divestment of its stake in the racing content distributor SIS (Sports Information Services).

In April, Paf announced that it will slash its annual mandatory loss limit for players aged over 24 from €20,000 to €17,500. Meanwhile, the limit for players aged 18 and 19 will be reduced by 82 per cent from €10,000 to €1,800 per year.  

Players aged 20-24 will retain the current loss limit of €10,000, which was announced in October. Before that change, the limit had been the same as for those over 24.