The online gambling giant William Hill has launched in Colombia after acquiring a majority stake in Alfabet in 2020.
This comes after the US casino giant Caesars Entertainment completed its £2.9bn acquisition of William Hill in April.
William Hill launches in Colombia
In December 2020, William Hill acquired a majority stake in Colombia’s Alfabet as a means of diversifying its international operations.
Alfabet has been operational in Colombia since 2018 after being awarded a licence by the gambling regulator Coljuegos.
William Hill has now rebranded the existing BetAlfa.co sportsbook brand as WilliamHill.co in an effort to establish a presence in the Colombian gambling market.
The sports betting giant will operate in Colombia under Alfabet’s existing licence which covers sports betting and online gambling in the country.
This launch marks William Hill’s first product launch in the Latin American gambling space.
William Hill chief executive Ulrik Bengtsson said: “This launch includes the full integration of the Alfabet team into our international business hub in Malta and marks our first entry into a regulated Latin American state.
“We are delighted to have the Alfabet team join our international team and excited by the opportunity to deliver a very competitive product and safe player experience under the William Hill brand in Colombia.”
At the time William Hill acquired a majority stake in the Colombian operator, the UK-based bookmaker revealed it had inked a Colombian-facing agreement with Btobet.
Btobet is a sportsbook technology provider that was acquired by Aspire Global for €20m (£18.1)m in October 2020.
The agreement between William Hill and Btobet will see the technology provider make its player account management platform and sportsbook software available to William Hill in the Colombian market.
Caesars’ acquisition of William Hill
Last month, Caesars Entertainment completed its acquisition of William Hill after agreeing upon a £2.9bn deal in September 2020.
The US casino giant’s main target of the acquisition was William Hill’s US sports betting business and technology. From the moment the deal was announced, Caesars maintained it intended to sell off the rest of William Hill’s assets once the deal was finished.
Last week, it was revealed that Entain is one of the businesses that is considering a bid for William Hill’s UK and European assets.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Entain’s Group CEO, Jette-Nygaard Andersen, revealed that the gambling firm is looking at the possibility of acquiring William Hill’s UK and European assets which are set to be auctioned off by Caesars.
“We’re looking at everything, so we’re certainly also looking at whether this could be an interesting opportunity,” she said in an interview.
Earlier this month, the US private equity fund Apollo Global Management was touted as one of the two main contenders for the bid. Apollo previously competed against Caesars for the acquisition of William Hill last year.
Other potential buyers include the transformed 888 Holdings who wish to build their UK profile after relisting on the FTSE250 and the Betfred owner Fred Done.