Williams Hill moves into online lottery with acquisition

The $25m (£16m) deal comes with an option to acquire the remaining 70.6 per cent of NeoGames after either three or five years.

NeoGames is a US-focused player in the online lottery sector. Launched in 2005 with online scratch cards games, it subsequently developed a range of online lottery products and services to lottery rights holders. It provides a combination of games, technology platforms and operational services to ten lotteries worldwide.

James Henderson, chief executive of William Hill, said: “The emergent online Lottery market is an exciting new opportunity in the gambling sector and NeoGames is a disruptive technology operator offering customers a great experience and lottery rights holders a compelling alternative to established retail lottery operators.

“This agreement gives William Hill good optionality in a new market that is increasingly attractive to gambling customers.”

William Hill is set to be overtaken as the UK’s biggest bookmaker following a merger between rivals Ladbrokes and Gala Coral. The deal, which was announced last month, will create a £2.3bn gambling firm.