William Hill To Sell 50 Betting Shops To Secure Deal Approval

William Hill said it would sell 50 betting shops to gain regulatory clearance for its purchase of 624 outlets from peer Stanley Leisure to secure a deal that makes it the UK's biggest bookmaker.

William Hill agreed to buy 624 betting shops from Stanley Leisure last May for £504m to leapfrog rival bookmaker Ladbrokes - owned by the Hilton Group.

Though the group expressed "disappointment" at the number of shops it was required to sell, it was nonetheless pleased the competition process had concluded.

William Hill was now "looking forward to bringing the Stanley and William Hill retail businesses together", it said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

Earlier on Tuesday, Britain's competition watchdog said in a statement that it would not investigate the purchase of Stanley Leisure's British-based outlets.

The 50 betting shops the company was selling were in addition to the previously announced sale of 28 shops to British government-owned bookmaker the Tote.

William Hill has said the Stanley deal will provide it with a presence in areas where it is under-represented, such as northwestern England, or unrepresented, such as Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.