Controversial bookmaker Tom Waterhouse has sold his online betting business to British gaming company William Hill.
InDaily revealed Tuesday the company was seeking clearance from betting licence regulators to clear remaining hurdles to the deal.
William Hill’s chief executive Ralph Topping said Waterhouse will receive $34 million for the business, plus an earn-out agreement that could see him receive up to $70 million.
He will also remain managing director of the business.
William Hill earlier this year acquired Sportingbet’s Australian business for $670 million.
Topping said William Hill had set its sights on becoming Australia’s biggest online bookmaker.
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“The Sportingbet acquisition gave us a strong and proven platform with an experienced management team,” he said.
“Acquiring tomwaterhouse.com gives us a rapidly growing business that appeals to a wider customer base,” Topping said in a statement.
Waterhouse has been a source of controversy this year owing to a sponsorship deal with the NRL which prompted widespread criticism that gambling was being promoted during match TV broadcasts.
The Northern Territory Racing Commission (NTRC) met in Darwin on Wednesday to consider an application for the transfer of the Waterhouse licence.
The NTRC controls the issue and transfer of betting licences in Darwin, the centre of online and sports betting businesses in Australia.
The takeover by the London-based William Hill, reportedly the biggest bookmaker in the world, further consolidates the Australian online gambling market, worth $6 billion dollars annually.
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William Hill acquired major player Sportingbet in March this year.
Sportingbet had already swallowed up Australia’s first online betting agency, Centrebet, in a 2011 acquisition worth a reported $183 million.
Ireland’s biggest bookmaker Paddy Power acquired another major player – Melbourne-based Sportsbet – in 2010.
The only major local left in the marketplace after the Waterhouse deal will be Australia’s Tabcorp which owns the Luxbet brand.
Tabcorp on Friday reported a net profit of $127 million for the 2012/13 financial year, down 63 per cent from the $340 million recorded the previous year.
But the company said the result was skewed by the expiry of the duopoly licence it shared with rival Tatts Group to operate poker machines in Victoria.
The result was also affected by changes to its Victorian wagering and betting licence which will see it share more of its proceeds with the state government.
Tabcorp chief executive David Attenborough said that despite the profit fall, it had been a successful year for the company.
“Tabcorp has had a successful financial year, while managing significant change to our business portfolio and navigating challenging external trading conditions,” he said in a statement.
– with AAP
