SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
William Hill has made the first steps into expanding into the burgeoning South American gambling landscape, building on its acquisition of Alfabet SAS to launch in Colombia.
The acquisition of Alfabet was initially conducted in December 2020, in a deal which saw the then Gibraltar and UK-based operator acquire a majority stake in the company which has operated the BetAlfa.co sportsbook brand since 2018.
Alfabet holds the Colombian internet-operated games licence C-1611 authorised by Coljuegos, the gambling regulator of Colombia, offering sports betting and online casino games.
William Hill was able to launch in Colombia five months after the acquisition due to the rebranding of the customer-facing sportsbook brand BetAlfa.co as William Hill.co.
The operator has stated that the relaunch of the Alfabet brand as William Hill.co, which will be operated from William Hill’s Malta-based European business hub, functions as part of its wider strategy of delivering growth ‘through international expansion’.
Ulrik Bengtsson, Chief Executive Officer of William Hill, said: “I am thrilled to see WilliamHill.co launched within such a short timeframe. 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.”
Colombia is the ninth market in which William Hill is currently active. It marks its debut in a Latin American betting sector, and its second launch in a market on the opposite side of the Atlantic after the US.
The former LSE-registered and FTSE 250 firm was acquired on 23 April by American gambling conglomerate Caesars Entertainment for a purchasing price of £2.9 billion, representing £2.72 per share.
Caesars subsequently announced that it would move ahead with plans to sell all of William Hill’s European and UK assets, reportedly attracting interest from a range of potential buyers including Apollo Global Management, Kindred Group, Betsson and 888 Holdings.
