WILLIAM HILL'S ITALIAN VENTURE SOLD

WILLIAM HILL'S ITALIAN VENTURE SOLD Intralot Italia acquires WHCI for Euro 5.5 million The British bookie group William Hill's Italian joint venture with Codere Italia Srl. has been sold to Intralot Italia for Euro 5.5 million the company announced this week. The deal does not include the use of the William Hill brand name. The proceeds of the deal will be shared equally between Will Hill and Codere. Intralot SA subsidiary Intralot Italia spa has acquired full ownership of William Hill Codere Italia Srl. (WHCI), thus further strengthening its position in the Italian betting market. The deal brings to Intralot 55 additional licences for horseracing and sports betting points of sale that WHCI was awarded following a competitive process in 2006. In the same process Intralot acquired 33 percent of the total licenses for the large exclusive sports betting points of sale that were finally granted, or a total of 416 licenses and 164 additional licenses for non-exclusive points of sale.
The company will migrate the current internet operations of WHCI to its own assets. In a very short period of time, Intralot Italia has managed to rise prominence among the top three companies that currently operate in the highly competitive Italian betting market, while its market share is posting impressive increases in the market. The deal also means that Intralot boosts its presence in the Italian horseracing betting market, since 20 of the WHCI licences are dedicated to that sport.  Intralot CEO, Constantinos Antonopoulos, commented: “Intralot optimizes and consolidates its position in the Italian market through this significant acquisition. The fact that we have managed to gain an impressive market share in such limited time inspires a clear vision; to continue our successful course to the top, offering more exciting gaming experiences to the Italian community.” Intralot has a presence in 45 countries on 5 continents, with approximately 4 400 employees and revenues in 2007 of Euro 835,5 million in 2007.