William Hill has announced that it is to withdraw its various services from the Romanian market due to recent regulatory developments in the country. In a correspondence issued to customers and affiliates in the country, the bookmaker said that its products will no longer be made available to players in Romania from June 2. The bookmaker has also instructed all affiliates to remove marketing materials such as banners and text links that relate to Romanian punters. However, William Hill did hint that it may return to the Romanian market in the future, saying it was “confident” that it will have…

iGaming Business – UK bookmaker William Hill has extended an agreement with Musselburgh Racecourse to continue its title sponsorship of the Scottish Sprint Cup annual horseracing event. The deal will run for three years, from 2015 until 2017. The £100,000 (€124,855/$170,210) five-furlong race is hosted at the Musselburgh Racecourse each year and is regarded as the venue’s showpiece event. The race will continue to be known as the £100,000 William Hill Scottish Sprint Cup under the terms of the deal. The agreement will strengthen William Hill’s Scottish sports sponsorship portfolio, which also includes the Ayr Gold Cup Festival horseracing event…

iGaming Business – UK bookmaker William Hill announced today (Friday) that it has signed a new five-year loan agreement with a syndicate of banks. The £540 million (€667 million/$927 million) committed multi-currency revolving credit facility will expire in May 2019. It replaces the group’s existing revolving credit facility, which was due to expire in November 2015. “We are pleased to have completed this deal both with the support of our relationship banks and with two new lenders to the group,” William Hill group finance director Neil Cooper said. “This transaction extends the group’s debt maturities, strengthening the group’s balance sheet…

Australian Gambling – The two men leading William Hill’s base of operations in Australia are set to part ways with the UK gambling giant. William Hill Australian chief executive Michael Sullivan and chief operating officer Anthony Waller have reportedly been in discussions with the company in what is being described as a ‘management re-shuffle’. The Age reported a number of meetings had taken place on the future leadership structure of the company in Australia, but neither the company nor the Sullivan and Waller would comment. Whether the decision is mutual between the parties, or William Hill is attempting to move…

British bookmaker William Hill is to close more than 100 betting shops this year, blaming the decision on a tax increase on high-stakes gambling machines that have become one of their main sources of revenue. The UK government announced an increase in tax to 25 per cent from 20 per cent on the machines in its budget in March, a move that will cost bookmakers around £75 million a year. William Hill, Britain’s largest bookmaker, said the tax rise meant there was no prospect of turning around a group of 109 loss-making betting shops from a total estate of over…

iGaming Business – UK bookmaker William Hill has cited two “substantial” loss-making weeks driven by football results as one of the main reasons for a year-on-year drop in profit during the three months to March 31, 2014. The company reported that operating profit for the first quarter was down 14% on the same period last year. Retail suffered the most with a 25% drop while online operations also fell 6%. William Hill’s retail business was responsible for 57% of total group revenue, while online and Australian operations contributed 32% and 8% respectively. Over-the-counter amounts wagered via the bookmaker’s retail business…