Ladbrokes-Coral Sells Shops to Betfred and Stan James

Ladbrokes-Coral offers stores to Betfred and Stan James

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17 October 2016

Ladbrokes and Coral have consented to sell 359 shops to competing wagering companies in what they say is the "last substantial difficulty" for their ₤ 2.7 bn merger.

Betfred, owned by billionaire Fred Done, will buy 322 shops and Stan James the other 37 for an overall of ₤ 55.5 m.

Competition regulators ruled in July that Ladbrokes and Coral need to offer 350-400 look for their merger to be cleared.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will now examine the store deals, external.

Jim Mullen, the president of Ladbrokes, said: "The sale of these stores will clear the last substantial hurdle to providing on the merger with Coral and paves the method for our focus on conclusion and rapidly providing on the chances the merger uses."

The 2 bookies stated they would seek approval from the CMA to complete the merger once they offer one additional shop.

Market leader

Ladbrokes and Gala Coral are the UK's second and third biggest retail wagering companies, behind William Hill.

Ladbrokes has about 2,150 outlets in Britain and 77 in Northern Ireland. Coral runs 1,850 shops in Britain.

A merger between the 2 would make them the UK's biggest High Street bookie.

However, William Hill is seeking its own tie-up with Canadian operator Amaya, owner of the PokerStars franchise, to stay up to date with the competitors and boost its online offering.

It was widely reported, external over the weekend that William Hill plans to press ahead with the ₤ 4.5 bn offer in spite of misgivings from its largest shareholder.