888 Holdings and the Rank Group have abandoned a possible acquisition of William Hill, retracting their prior joint merger proposition that had shaken up the gaming industry.

Both companies had presented separate, informal offers to the William Hill board on August 8th and 14th, respectively, but both were ultimately declined.

In a combined announcement, 888 and Rank Group restated their confidence in the proposal’s merit, indicating that “the suggested amalgamation possessed the capacity to transform the gambling sector worldwide.”

Nevertheless, they attributed the withdrawal of their bid to an “incapacity to interact productively with the William Hill board.”

888 Chief Executive Itai Frieberger conveyed his frustration, remarking, “We are disheartened that the William Hill board did not embrace our vision for the unification of our enterprises.”

He elaborated, “We maintain that the fusion of these highly compatible businesses would have exhibited a compelling business rationale and would have generated substantial operational scale, diversification, and robust revenue and cost efficiencies, yielding advantages for all parties involved.”

Rank Group Chief Executive Henry Birch mirrored this sentiment, stating, “We remain convinced that the transaction would have produced significant worth for the stakeholders of all three corporations.”

He appended, “Both 888 and Rank Group wish to express gratitude to their respective shareholders for the backing they have received throughout this endeavor.”

William Hill also issued a statement acknowledging 888 and Rank Group’s choice to withdraw.

Gareth Davis, the head of William Hill, shared that the company was told the prospective purchaser would not be moving forward with the purchase. He emphasized to investors that William Hill remains committed to its plan for generating shareholder returns. Davis mentioned the company has experienced a positive beginning to the latter half of the year, and the board anticipates the operating income for 2016 to reach the higher portion of the earlier stated £260 million to £280 million projection.