SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The merger of Ladbrokes and Coral has been granted final approval by the UK Competition & Markets Authority (“CMA”), closing the £2.27 billion deal which has taken 18 months to complete (first announced June 2015).
Completing its final review of Ladbrokes-Coral merger process, the authority has approved the operators sale of 359 betting shops to Betfred (322 estates) and Stan James (37 estates) for a cash sum of £50.5 million.
The Ladbrokes-Coral merger has been under CMA review since December 2015, with a market competition study detailing that the operators’ combined retail portfolio would ‘reduce consumer choice in a number of local areas’, forcing the operators to sell a significant share of their combined retail inventory.
Following the receipt of its merger approval by the CMA, Ladbrokes and Coral governance will now publish a combined corporate prospectus detailing the admission of its enlarged entity on the London Stock Exchange.
The new business entity seeks to register a premium listing on the London Exchange granted by granted by the Financial Conduct Authority’
Upon completion of the merger, Ladbrokes CEO Jim Mullen will retain his position at the leader of the new business. Carl Leaver, CEO of Gala Coral, will take up the position of Executive Deputy Chairman for a term of 12 months and will be chareged with leading delivery of corporate synergies between the two firms.
Commenting on gaining final CMA approval , Ladbrokes CEO, Jim Mullen, said:
“I am delighted that the CMA has given approval to our merger with Coral. Both businesses are approaching the merger with good momentum and we are now focusing on completing the merger and delivering on the opportunities it offers.”
