{"id":159715,"date":"2020-12-28T07:04:26","date_gmt":"2020-12-28T15:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=159715"},"modified":"2020-12-28T08:40:57","modified_gmt":"2020-12-28T16:40:57","slug":"william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/","title":{"rendered":"William Hill Enters Colombia with Alfabet Purchase"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sportsbook operator William Hill (OTC:WIMHY) is broadening its horizons in Latin America by purchasing a majority position in Colombian gaming firm Alfabet S.A.S.<\/p>\n

\"William
A William Hill sportsbook in the US. The company is buying a majority stake in Colombia’s Alfabet. (Image: CNN)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, nor was the size of the British bookmaker’s stake in the South American company.<\/p>\n

Cali-based Alfabet, which procured its first Colombian gaming license in 2018, provides iGaming and sports wagering services under the BetAlfa brand.<\/p>\n

Colombia, the first Latin American country to establish a European-style licensing system, has been very progressive with their gambling regulations over the last few years, and industry analysts believe there is strong growth potential within the regulated gambling market in the country,\u201d according to a statement issued by William Hill.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Colombia has awarded 20 permits to operators over the past several years, confirming that there’s plenty of competition there. But the market is nonetheless compelling for gaming companies, because the country is the fourth-largest in Latin America as ranked by GDP, trailing only Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Bookmakers Targeting Latin America<\/h2>\n

William Hill’s BetAlfa deal is the latest in a series of Western sportsbook operators pushing into Latin America. Earlier this month, FanDuel, a unit of<\/a> Flutter Entertainment Plc (OTC:PDYPY), said it’s partnering with CAGE Sports BV to pursue sports wagering licenses in the region and the Caribbean.<\/p>\n

The companies expect to be operational in the region in the first half of next year, with Barbados and Bermuda being the first markets in which they go live. Entain, another William Hill rival and the company formerly known as GVC Holdings Plc, also announced Colombia plans earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Industry observers speculate that the recent interest in Latin America on behalf of European gaming companies is perhaps more about Brazil than the markets these firms are currently entering.<\/p>\n

\n

Brazil is widely viewed as the golden goose of gaming expansion in the region. Home to Latin America’s largest economy and population, Brazil is a sought-after market for integrated resort operators<\/a> and sportsbook firms alike. The country legalized fixed-odds sports betting in December 2018, but licensing and regulatory protocols have yet to be determined.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

That process could be sped along, as the country’s Council of the Investment Partnerships Program (PPI) seeks new revenue-generating avenues<\/a> due to the cash crunch caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s not clear how many sports licenses the country will award, but showing regional expertise could be advantageous for operators such as William Hill.<\/p>\n

How Caesars Fits In<\/h2>\n

Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ:CZR) is currently in the process of acquiring William Hill<\/a> for $3.69 billion, a deal that the target’s board already approved.<\/p>\n

The statement on the Alfabet transaction doesn’t mention Caesars, and that’s likely by design, because the Nevada-based gaming company is widely expected to shed William Hill’s international units when the deal is finalized.<\/p>\n

The UK company’s European operations, which could command $2 billion or more in a sale, are seen as the crown jewel in a Caesars divestment. But adding in Latin American exposure could bring more potential buyers into what’s expected to be a competitive bidding pool. It’s not yet clear how swiftly Caesars will move to sell William Hill’s international business<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sportsbook operator William Hill (OTC:WIMHY) is broadening its horizons in Latin America by purchasing a majority position in Colombian gaming firm Alfabet S.A.S. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, nor was the size of the British bookmaker’s stake in the South American company. Cali-based Alfabet, which procured its first Colombian gaming license in 2018, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":159716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32093,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWilliam Hill Takes Majority Stake in Alfabet for Undisclosed Sum<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"William Hill is entering Colombia via the purchase of a majority stake in iGaming and sports betting firm Alfabet.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"William Hill Takes Majority Stake in Alfabet for Undisclosed Sum\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"William Hill is entering Colombia via the purchase of a majority stake in iGaming and sports betting firm Alfabet.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-28T15:04:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-28T16:40:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/wh3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/\",\"name\":\"William Hill Takes Majority Stake in Alfabet for Undisclosed Sum\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/wh3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-28T15:04:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-28T16:40:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"William Hill is entering Colombia via the purchase of a majority stake in iGaming and sports betting firm Alfabet.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/wh3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/wh3.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"A William Hill sportsbook in the US. The company is buying a majority stake in Colombia's Alfabet. (Image: CNN)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mergers and Acquisitions\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mergers-and-acquisitions\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"William Hill Enters Colombia with Alfabet Purchase\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\",\"name\":\"Todd Shriber\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Todd Shriber\"},\"description\":\"Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long\/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/todd-shriber\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/toddshriber\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/etfgodfather\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/todd-shriber\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"William Hill Takes Majority Stake in Alfabet for Undisclosed Sum","description":"William Hill is entering Colombia via the purchase of a majority stake in iGaming and sports betting firm Alfabet.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"William Hill Takes Majority Stake in Alfabet for Undisclosed Sum","og_description":"William Hill is entering Colombia via the purchase of a majority stake in iGaming and sports betting firm Alfabet.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2020-12-28T15:04:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-12-28T16:40:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/wh3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Todd Shriber","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@etfgodfather","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Todd Shriber","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/","name":"William Hill Takes Majority Stake in Alfabet for Undisclosed Sum","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/wh3.jpg","datePublished":"2020-12-28T15:04:26+00:00","dateModified":"2020-12-28T16:40:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85"},"description":"William Hill is entering Colombia via the purchase of a majority stake in iGaming and sports betting firm Alfabet.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/wh3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/wh3.jpg","width":1200,"height":675,"caption":"A William Hill sportsbook in the US. The company is buying a majority stake in Colombia's Alfabet. (Image: CNN)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/william-hill-takes-majority-stake-in-alfabet-for-undisclosed-sum\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mergers and Acquisitions","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/mergers-and-acquisitions\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"William Hill Enters Colombia with Alfabet Purchase"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85","name":"Todd Shriber","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png","caption":"Todd Shriber"},"description":"Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long\/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/todd-shriber","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/toddshriber\/","https:\/\/x.com\/etfgodfather"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/todd-shriber\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159715"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/159715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=159715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=159715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}