William Hill
The Company was founded by William Hill in 1934. It changed hands many times being acquired by Sears Holdings in 1971, then by Grand Metropolitan in 1988, then by Brent Walker in 1989, then by Nomura in 1997 and Cinven and CVC Capital Partners in 1999. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2002. The Company operates in the UK, the Republic of Ireland and most recently have opened chains in Madrid in Spain under the 'Victoria' banner. It also offers betting by phone and over the internet as well as through its bookmaking shops. The internet section has grown fastest in recent years, although its telebetting call centres took 125,000 bets on the 2007 Grand National and its betting shops process more than 889,000 betting slips on an average day. |