888 Holdings set to launch localised service in Romania week after failed William Hill bid
Online gambling major 888 Holdings has announced it is set to launch a new, localised service in Romania a week after it walked away from a joint bid for bookmaking stalwart William Hill.
888's Romanian version, 888.ro, will unify its casino, poker and sport arms so that players can access all three brands from a single account when it starts on 1 September.
Chief executive Itai Frieberger said:
888 has been one of the world's leading and trusted gambling operators for almost two decades, powered by our award-winning, proprietary software and services.
Our flagship brands, 888poker, 888casino and 888sport, operate in several regulated markets around the world, including the United Kingdom, Spain and Denmark, and have been an online destination of choice in these markets for years.
We aim to offer 888.ro to Romanian players as a global brand with a unique, local flavour.
Read more: Levies and abandoned takeover halve 888 Holdings' operational profits
Last Thursday, .
A consortium formed by Grosvenor Casinos operator Rank and online giant 888 Holdings submitted two bids for Will Hill, which were both promptly rejected.
Rank and 888 had proposed a three-way tie-up in which the two companies would merge to form a new company called Bidco and contemporaneously acquire William Hill.
Frieberger said he was "disappointed" the William Hill board had not shared 888 and Rank's view of the business and said he believed there was "compelling industrial logic" behind the proposed tie-up.