Intralot Buys William Hill Codere Italia Srl

The Greek Company Intralot has bought the entire share capital of William Hill Codere Italia Srl. The company William Hill Codere Italia Srl was a joint venture between William Hill Plc and Grupo Codere SA. The gross sale price agreed for the sale between the two is 5.5 million euros. The sale amount will be shared equally between the two shareholders.

The Greek company said that it was buying the joint venture company with an aim of strengthening its presence in the Italian market. The buy out will mean that the Greek owners will have 55 outlets for horse-racing and sports betting in Italy.

The joint venture company was set up in 2006 with a view to enter the Italian horse and sports betting market following a tender process in Italy for sports and horse race betting. The recent sale of the company includes the internet betting licenses that were secured in the 2006 tender.

The Greek companies Italian existing subsidiary has 416 exclusive point-of-sale licenses and a further 164 non-exclusive licenses to operate in Italy. It is the world’s second-largest lottery systems provider, and is present in 45 countries. It also runs sports betting in 12 other nations.

William Hill has said that the sale will result in a write off of around GBP 1 million in the group’s 2008 interim accounts. These write offs will come into effect after accounting for operating losses in 2007 and till the date of sale this year.