The US private equity firm has emerged as another possible contender for William Hill’s retail and online betting business in the UK and Europe.

UK.- The US private equity firm Advent International has expressed interest in buying William’s Hill’s European and UK business, which is up for sale following Caesars Entertainment’s acquisition of the British bookmaker last year.

Caesars Entertainment had already made clear that it would sell William Hill’s UK and European assets, both retail bookmakers and online, before it completed its £2.9bn acquisition of the company.

Other contenders for the assets, which include 1,400 betting shops, are rival private equity group Apollo Global, the Irish bookmaker BoyleSports and the online gambling operator 888 Holdings. 

Entain has also expressed an interest in buying the business, which is expected to sell for around £1.5bn. 

According to The Times newspaper, Apollo is seen as having stronger chances of clinching a deal than rival Advent since it already has experience of expansion into gambling while Advent has no other investments in the sector. 

Advent’s core focus is on business and financial services, healthcare, industrial, retail, consumer and leisure and technology.

William Hill appoints Eric Hageman as CFO

Last month, William Hill appointed Eric Hageman as chief financial officer, replacing Matt Ashley who entered the role in April 2020. 

Hageman was previously Group CFO at Swiss-based workplace operator IWG, formerly Regus. He has also served as CFO at Chime Communications in London, TeleCity Group plc and Royal KPN NV.