NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
20 April 2021
RECOMMENDED CASH ACQUISITION
of
William Hill PLC ("William Hill")
by
Caesars
a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Caesars Entertainment, Inc. ("Caesars")
to be effected by means of a scheme of arrangement
under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006
Court Sanction of Scheme of Arrangement
On 30 September 2020, the boards of William Hill, Caesars
The Scheme Court Hearing was held on 31 March 2021, and William Hill is pleased to announce that the High Court of Justice in
It is anticipated that the Effective Date will be 22 April 2021, which is when a copy of the Court Order is expected to be delivered to the Registrar of Companies. An updated expected timetable of principal events for the Acquisition is set out in the Appendix to this announcement.
Applications have been made for the suspension of trading in William Hill Shares on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities and the listing of William Hill Shares on the premium listing segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority and such suspensions are expected to take effect by 7:30 a.m. on 22 April 2021. The last day of dealings in, and for the registration and transfer of, William Hill Shares will be 21 April 2021. The de-listing of William Hill Shares from the premium listing segment of the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority and the cancellation of the admission to trading of William Hill Shares on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities have also been applied for and will, subject to the Scheme becoming Effective, take effect by 8:00 a.m. on 23 April 2021.
A further announcement will be made when the Scheme has become Effective.
Capitalised terms used in this announcement shall, unless otherwise defined, have the same meanings as set out in the Scheme Document published on 26 October 2020. Full details of the Acquisition are set out in the Scheme Document.
APPENDIX
EXEPECTED TIMETABLE OF PRINCIPAL EVENTS
All times shown are
Event |
Expected time and/or date |
Last day for dealings in, and for the registration of transfer of, William Hill Shares |
21 April 2021 |
Scheme Record Time |
6:00 p.m. on 21 April 2021 |
Disablement of CREST in respect of William Hill Shares |
6:00 p.m. on 21 April 2021 |
Suspension of dealings in William Hill Shares |
by 7:30 a.m. on 22 April 2021 |
Effective Date of the Scheme |
22 April 2021* |
Cancellation of listing of William Hill Shares |
by 8:00 a.m. on 23 April 2021 |
Latest date for despatch of cheques and crediting of CREST accounts for cash consideration due under the Scheme |
7 May 2021 |
* The events which are stated as occurring on subsequent dates are conditional on the Scheme Effective Date and operate by reference to this time. |
Enquiries:
William Hill |
|
Louise Turner-Smith, Director of Investor Relations |
+44 (0) 207 612 3251 |
Alison Cole, Director of Corporate Communications |
+44 (0) 207 612 3233 |
Barclays |
|
Daniel Ross |
+44 (0) 207 623 2323 |
Nishant Amin |
|
Mark Astaire |
|
Nicola Tennent |
|
Citigroup |
|
Jan Skarbek |
+44 (0) 207 986 4000 |
Andrew Seaton |
|
Robert Farrington |
|
Martin Weltman |
|
PJT Partners |
|
Simon |
+44 (0) 203 650 1100 |
Jonathan Hall |
|
Ben Ripley |
|
Brunswick Group LLP |
|
Andrew Porter |
+44 (0) 207 404 5959 |
Fiona Micallef-Eynaud |
|
Craig Breheny |
|
Chris Buscombe |
|
|
|
Caesars Entertainment, Inc. |
|
Brian Agnew |
+1 800 318 0047 |
Deutsche Bank |
|
James Ibbotson |
+44 (0)207 545 8000 |
James Arculus |
|
Slaughter and May are retained as legal adviser and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP are retained as US anti-trust legal adviser to William Hill.
Linklaters LLP are retained as legal adviser, Latham & Watkins LLP are retained as financing legal adviser, Skadden Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP are retained as US anti-trust legal adviser and Phelps Dunbar LLP and Harris Hagan are retained as US and
Important notices
Barclays Bank PLC, acting through its Investment Bank ("Barclays"), which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated in the
In accordance with the Takeover Code, normal
Citigroup Global Markets Limited ("Citigroup"), which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated in the
PJT Partners (
Deutsche Bank AG ("Deutsche Bank") is authorised under German Banking Law (competent authority: European Central Bank) and, in the
Neither Deutsche Bank nor any of its subsidiaries, branches or affiliates (including, without limitation, Deutsche Bank, acting through its
Neither Deutsche Bank nor any of its subsidiaries, branches or affiliates (including, without limitation, DB London and DBSI) owes or accepts any duty, liability or responsibility whatsoever (whether direct or indirect, whether in contract, in tort, under statute or otherwise) to any person who is not a client of Deutsche Bank (or DB London or DBSI) in connection with this Announcement, any statement contained herein, or otherwise.
DB
Further information
This Announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or an invitation to purchase any securities or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, pursuant to the Acquisition or otherwise.
The Acquisition shall be made solely by means of the Scheme Document which, together with the Forms of Proxy, contains the full terms and conditions of the Acquisition. Each William Hill Shareholder is urged to read the Scheme Document because it contains important information relating to the Acquisition.
This Announcement does not constitute a prospectus or prospectus exempted document.
Overseas shareholders
This Announcement has been prepared for the purpose of complying with English law and the Takeover Code and the information disclosed may not be the same as that which would have been disclosed if this Announcement had been prepared in accordance with the laws of jurisdictions outside
The release, publication or distribution of this Announcement in or into certain jurisdictions other than the
Unless otherwise determined by Caesars and/or Caesars
The availability of the Acquisition to William Hill Shareholders who are not resident in the
Each William Hill Shareholder is urged to consult their independent professional adviser immediately regarding the tax consequences of the Acquisition applicable to them, including under applicable
The Acquisition shall be subject to the applicable requirements of the Takeover Code, the Panel, the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Conduct Authority.
Additional information for US investors
The Acquisition relates to shares of a
Accordingly, the Acquisition is subject to the disclosure and procedural requirements applicable in the
In accordance with normal
The receipt of consideration by a US holder for the transfer of its William Hill Shares pursuant to the Scheme will likely be a taxable transaction for
Financial information relating to William Hill included in this Announcement and the Scheme Document has been or shall have been prepared in accordance with accounting standards applicable in the
Forward-looking statements
This Announcement (including information incorporated by reference in this Announcement), oral statements made regarding the Acquisition, and other information published by William Hill, any member of the William Hill Group, Caesars, Caesars
The forward-looking statements contained in this Announcement may relate to William Hill, any member of the William Hill Group, Caesars, Caesars
By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that shall occur in the future. These events and circumstances include changes in the global, political, economic, business, competitive, market and regulatory forces, future exchange and interest rates, changes in tax rates and future business combinations or disposals. If any one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialises or if any one or more of the assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those expected, estimated or projected. Such forward-looking statements should therefore be construed in the light of such factors.
None of William Hill, any member of the William Hill Group, Caesars, Caesars
Specifically, statements of estimated cost savings and synergies relate to future actions and circumstances which, by their nature involve, risks, uncertainties and contingencies. As a result, the cost savings and synergies referred to may not be achieved, may be achieved later or sooner than estimated, or those achieved could be materially different from those estimated. Due to the scale of the Enlarged Group, there may be additional changes to the Enlarged Group's operations. As a result, and given the fact that the changes relate to the future, the resulting cost synergies may be materially greater or less than those estimated.
The forward-looking statements speak only at the date of this Announcement. All subsequent oral or written forward-looking statements attributable to William Hill, any member of the William Hill Group, Caesars, Caesars
William Hill, any member of the William Hill Group, Caesars, Caesars
No profit forecasts or estimates
No statement in this Announcement is intended as a profit forecast or estimate for any period and no statement in this Announcement should be interpreted to mean that earnings or earnings per share for William Hill or Caesars, as appropriate, for the current or future financial years would necessarily match or exceed the historical published earnings or earnings per share for William Hill or Caesars, as appropriate.
Dealing disclosure requirements of the Takeover Code
Under Rule 8.3(a) of the Takeover Code, any person who is interested in 1 per cent. or more of any class of relevant securities of an offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror (being any offeror other than an offeror in respect of which it has been announced that its offer is, or is likely to be, solely in cash) must make an Opening Position Disclosure following the commencement of the offer period and, if later, following the announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified. An Opening Position Disclosure must contain details of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of: (i) the offeree company, and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s). An Opening Position Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(a) of the Takeover Code applies must be made by no later than 3:30 p.m. (
Under Rule 8.3(b) of the Takeover Code, any person who is, or becomes, interested in 1 per cent. or more of any class of relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror must make a Dealing Disclosure if the person deals in any relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror. A Dealing Disclosure must contain details of the dealing concerned and of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of: (i) the offeree company, and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s), save to the extent that these details have previously been disclosed under Rule 8 of the Takeover Code. A Dealing Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(b) of the Takeover Code applies must be made by no later than 3:30 p.m. (
If two or more persons act together pursuant to an agreement or understanding, whether formal or informal, to acquire or control an interest in relevant securities of an offeree company or a securities exchange offeror, they shall be deemed to be a single person for the purpose of Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code.
Opening Position Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company and by any offeror and Dealing Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company, by any offeror and by any persons acting in concert with any of them (see Rules 8.1, 8.2 and 8.4 of the Takeover Code).
Details of the offeree and offeror companies in respect of whose relevant securities Opening Position Disclosures and Dealing Disclosures must be made can be found in the Disclosure Table on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk, including details of the number of relevant securities in issue, when the offer period commenced and when any offeror was first identified. You should contact the Panel's Market Surveillance Unit on +44 (0)20 7638 0129 if you are in any doubt as to whether you are required to make an Opening Position Disclosure or a Dealing Disclosure.
Publication on website
A copy of this Announcement will be made available, subject to certain restrictions relating to persons resident in Restricted Jurisdictions, on William Hill's website at https://www.williamhillplc.com/investors-centre/offer-for-the-company/ and Caesars' website at https://investor.caesars.com/ by no later than 12:00 p.m. (
Electronic communications
Please be aware that addresses, electronic addresses and certain information provided by William Hill Shareholders, persons with information rights and other relevant persons for the receipt of communications from William Hill may be provided to Caesars and/or Caesars
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