The UK newspaper The Sunday Times has published a report according to which Ladbrokes and its rival company Gala Coral could complete their merger this week.
The merger, which was first mooted in June 2015, will lead to the creation of a business that can be worth more than €2.3 billion.
The Sunday Times informed that the deal, which can conclude in the upcoming days, will see Gala Coral hand its senior staff a total windfall of over €50 million.
Yet despite the report published by the newspaper, the two companies are waiting for the complete approval from the UK Competition and Market Authority, before the merger can be completed. In May the UK Competition and Market Authority informed both operators that in order for the merger to happen, both operators will have to sell over 400 shops.
Upon the rulling, Martin Cave, inquiry chair at the UK Competition and Market Authority said: “Although online betting has grown substantially in recent years, the evidence we’ve seen confirms that a large number of customers still choose to bet in shops – and many would continue to do so after the merger. For these customers, competition comes from the choice of shops in their local area and it’s they who could lose out from any reduction of competition and choice. Discounts and offers of free bets to individual customers are ways betting shops respond to local competition, which could be threatened by the merger”. Therefore, the Authority in its initial ruling stated that the merger could result in a loss of competition in more than 650 locations in all of the UK. The sale of the land-based shops is to be the remedy for the loss of competitions in these regions.
Ladbrokes has released a statement in which the company informed that it is still continuing the discussion of terms with Gala Coral. Yet the company has also informed that there is no guarantee whatsoever that the deal will go through.
The company released a statement in which it informed that: “Shareholders are advised that there can be no certainty that the discussions between Ladbrokes and Gala Coral will lead to any agreement concerning the possible merger or as to the timing or terms of any such agreement and there can be no assurance that, even if reached, any such agreement would be completed”.
