William Hill appoints new chief of Aussie operations
News on 17 Jul 2014
News on 17 Jul 2014
Tom Waterhouse, the highly experienced chief executive and part-owner of online bookmaking group Tom Waterhouse.com prior to its acquisition by William Hill plc in 2012, has been appointed by the UK gambling group to head up its Australian interests, which includes subsidiaries Sportingbet, Centrebet and Tom Waterhouse.com.
The appointment sees Waterhouse taking over from James Henderson, the veteran William Hill senior executive who has been running the Australian operations pro tem following the departure of Michael Sullivan earlier this year. Henderson’s elevation to CEO of the entire William Hill group was announced earlier this month.
William Hill’s top man in Australia is a fourth generation bookmaker who became the largest on-course bookie in Australia before setting up the online business Tom Waterhouse.com in 2010, a business he built up so successfully that William Hill paid A$35 million for it three years later.
Announcing his appointment, Henderson described Waterhouse as “…a passionate, innovative and digitally savvy industry expert who shares our passion for delivering a superior product range and user experience to our customers in a responsible way.”
Waterhouse was similarly effusive, saying: “Since joining the William Hill family, I have been hugely impressed by the calibre of its team – here in Australia and across the rest of the Group – and by their excitement about the opportunities open to us.
“I am proud to have the chance to lead this business into the next level of growth and to be working with some of the best betting talent in Australia to build an attractive and competitive customer offer.”
In related news, UK business media yesterday reported that William Hill has announced the early settlement of the earn out for its 2013 acquisition Tom Waterhouse NT Pty Ltd.
William Hill acquired Tom Waterhouse.com for A$35 million plus the earn-out (which it has now settled) of up to A$70 million based on the incremental operating profit of the business in 2015.
The UK betting group said it has settled the earn-out ahead of schedule for A$5 million, the equivalent of GBP2.8 million in cash.
This compares to a potential cost valued at A$1 million at the end of 2013. The A$4 million difference will be booked as an exceptional cost in 2014, the company said.
William Hill also said it will book a further GBP1.8 million in exceptional costs in the first half of the year, linked to the restructuring of the William Hill Australia management team.
“Settling the earn-out ahead of schedule further improves William Hill Australia’s operational and fiscal flexibility following the successful systems integration of tomwaterhouse.com into William Hill Australia in April 2014,” the company said in its statement.
