William Hill acquires majority stake in Alfabet Colombia to open its LATAM vision
William Hill Plc has secured its first South American sportsbook venture confirming that it has acquired a ‘majority stake’ in Colombian-licensed operator Alfabet SAS.
Closing its 2020 trading, the FTSE250 betting group states that Colombia will be ‘the ninth regulated betting market in which William Hill will have an active presence’.
Operating in Colombia since 2018, Alfabet SAS is the operating company of BetAlfa.co – a federally approved online sportsbook and casino brand which maintains a license by Coljuegos – Colombia’s national gambling regulatory authority.
In its transaction notice, William Hill backed Coljuegos’ progressive online gambling regulations as the first LATAM jurisdiction to adopt ‘a European-style licensing system’ allowing foreign operators to compete within its marketplace.
“We are delighted to announce our acquisition of a majority share in Alfabet SAS, and with it, our first entry into a regulated Latin American state,” said William Hill CEO Ulrik Bengtsson,
“The Colombian regulated market is a role model for the Latin American gambling sector, and we are excited by this opportunity to deliver a very competitive product and safe player experience under the William Hill brand in the country.”
William Hill follows FTSE competitors Entain Plc and Flutter Entertainment, who during Q4 trading confirmed that they would launch their respective Bwin and Betfair flagship brands in Colombia in early 2021 having secured local partnerships.
2021 has been marked as a key year for South America’s burgeoning online gambling sector as the governments of Brazil and Argentina’s province of Buenos Aires are expected to settle on final regulatory conditions launching their new marketplace regimes.
Meanwhile, William Hill awaits a further transformative year as new US owners Caesars Entertainment finalise plans to sell the heritage betting group’s UK and European betting units – in which City analysts anticipated a hot pursuit of ‘William Hill offcuts‘.
Source: SBC News
