Cantor accuses William Hill of poaching US clients
Nevada gaming supplier reignites compensation claim against Hills and its US chief exec Joe Asher
Cantor Gaming has accused William Hill of poaching clients and stealing “trade secrets” following the UK operator’s acquisition of Brandywine Bookmaking in 2011 and the appointment of its former managing director Joe Asher.
The case filed in Clark County District Court earlier this month saw Cantor accuse William Hill of benefiting from Asher’s “usurpation of business ideas and opportunities” that belonged to the mobile gaming supplier. Cantor filed a case against former Cantor MD Asher in February 2011 claiming he had deliberately poached potential clients, with Asher (pictured) then retaliating with a counter claim of his own.
Cantor has asked for unspecified damages to compensate for the alleged theft of such intellectual property by both Asher and William Hill. The company runs several sports books in Las Vegas including in The Venetian and The Cosmopolitan.
Asher was Cantor Gaming’s managing director for four years until 2008 when he left to found Brandywine. He grew the company to a network of 16 sportsbook facilities across Nevada before it was sold to William Hill US for almost US$16m in a deal completed last year.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, in court papers filed in the 2011 case Asher said he was fired by Cantor, while his then employer claims he “abruptly” walked out.
Asher said the timing of Cantor’s challenge, with the complaint only filed after the Hills acquisition was agreed, “says a lot”, adding that any suggestion of wrongdoing on his part was “ridiculous and totally false.”
William Hill gained its first foothold in the US market last year when it completed the acquisitions of three Nevada-facing sportsbooks including Brandywine for a total of $55m in April last year. Since then it has signed a deal to make Plaza Hotel and Casino its flagship venue in downtown Las Vegas.
The operator has also since finalised a deal with New Jersey racecourse Monmouth Park to become the track’s official sports betting provider should the vertical become legal in the state.
Neither Cantor Gaming nor William Hill US were available for comment at the time of writing.