Ladbrokes in merger talks with Gala Coral Group

Bookmaker Ladbrokes has stated it is in talks with the board of Gala Coral Group over a possible merger.

An bet9ja's welcome offer would develop the UK's greatest bookmaker with nearly 4,000 High Street shops.

The discussions issue integrating Ladbrokes with Coral Retail, Eurobet Retail and Gala Coral's online companies.

Ladbrokes said there was no certainty that the talks would result in a deal, and possible terms and timings were also yet to be concurred.

Shares in Ladbrokes increased more than 11% after the announcement.

"A merger with Gala Coral might produce a combined business with considerable scale and has the prospective to produce considerable expense synergies, producing value for both business' shareholders," primary executive Jim Mullen stated.

If the deal goes ahead, it would see the merged group surpass William Hill as the biggest UK bookmaker, combining around 2,100 shops from Ladbrokes and 1,845 from Coral.

The merger talks do not consist of Gala's 132-strong bingo company.

Mr Mullen included that the yohaig code company's board has yet to decide whether a deal would be "strategically attractive" and whether it might be "delivered to investors on proper terms."

The company said that the deal, if finished, might be classified as a reverse takeover of Ladbrokes.

Ladbrokes previously attempted to purchase Coral in 1998, however its organized takeover was blocked by the federal government.

The then Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Mandelson stated a merger would cause "a weakening of rate competition at the national level" and a reduction in customer option.

Earlier this promotion code year, Ladbrokes reported a big fall in pre-tax revenue for 2014, from ₤ 68m to ₤ 38m, and said that it anticipated to close 60 UK stores this promotion code year.

Those strategies would be untouched by any handle Coral Group.

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Gala Coral Group