William Hill walks away from gaming group bid

William Hill's bid to takeover online gaming group Probability collapsed today, the latest such deal to fail.

The company, Britain's biggest bookmaker, gave no reason for the move, but City sources indicate that a dispute between Hills and business partner Playtech was behind the termination of the talks.

Playtech has a 21% stake in William Hills online arm and is said to have felt that a deal with Probability would have hurt its interests.
The statement to the stock exchange this morning simply noted that Hills "does not intend to make an offer". A company spokesman declined to comment.

Probability owns the Lady Luck brand and claims to have a million UK customers for its bingo, poker and casino games. It is valued at about £17 million.

The collapse of this deal echoes similar outcomes at Hills' arch rival Ladbrokes. It has walked away from bids for Sportingbet and 888 in recent months.

Both companies are under pressure to boost their online arms, but Hills is seen as ahead of Ladbrokes in this area.

Hills has been in the news often lately. There was a staff walkout at the company offices in Tel Aviv due to fears that there were plans afoot to relocate the business. Management denied the rumours.

William Hill shares fell 1.7p to 207.9p.