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.

A deal would develop the UK's biggest bookmaker with almost 4,000 High Street stores.

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

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

Shares in Ladbrokes rose more than 11% after the yohaig code statement.

"A merger with Gala Coral might produce a combined company with substantial scale and has the possible to produce substantial cost synergies, producing worth for both companies' shareholders," president Jim Mullen said.

If the bet9ja's welcome offer goes on, it would see the merged group overtake William Hill as the greatest 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 organization.

Mr Mullen included that the firm's board has yet to choose whether an bet9ja's welcome offer would be "tactically appealing" and whether it might be "provided to investors on suitable terms."

The company said that the deal, if completed, could be categorized as a reverse takeover of Ladbrokes.

Ladbrokes previously attempted to buy Coral in 1998, but its scheduled takeover was blocked by the government.

The then Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Mandelson stated a merger would result in "a weakening of rate competitors at the national level" and a reduction in consumer choice.

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

Those plans would be unaffected by any bet9ja's welcome offer with Coral Group.

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