888 hopes greater scale after Hills deal will help it cope with gambling review

The transformation in 888's scale brought about by the acquisition of William Hill International will help it weather the effects of any regulatory measures implemented as part of the UK government's ongoing gambling review.

That was the view of the company's chief financial officer Yariv Dafna, who was speaking after it was confirmed 888 had agreed a £2.2 billion deal to buy Hills' non-US assets from Caesars Entertainment.

According to analysts at Regulus, the UK will be responsible for around 70 per cent of the combined entity's revenue, with around 40 per cent of that coming from retail betting. Nevertheless, after the acquisition of William Hill, 888 will have the third largest online market share in the UK.