The merger between the two hotel chains carrying the same brand name, U.S. Hilton Hotels and U.K. Hilton Group, will make the latter sell its betting and gambling business Ladbrokes. Ladbrokes will have an estimated value of around 4 billion UK£.

There is much speculation who will buy Ladbrokes and what its future business direction will be. Some analysts say that Ladbrokes may start an online gaming offer directed toward the U.S. market. This has so far been impossible, according to these analysts, because of the presence of a U.S. citizen in Ladbrokes’ executive. The U.S. Department of Justice has warned its citizen that they will face arrest at home if they are managing gambling websites abroad.

Today, much speculation exist about the continuous participation of U.S. Wall Street investment firm in the off-shore gambling market. The Department of Justice could be considering a similar approach to executives of investment firms as they do to other U.S. firms with an management role in unauthorised, U.S. directed gambling business.