Ladbrokes and Coral Agree to Necessary Shop Sales before Merger
It has been announced that Ladbrokes and Coral have agreed to the demands of the UK Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) to sell between 350 and 400 of their shops ahead of the planned merger between the two.
Earlier in 2016, it was stated by the CMA that the UK based shops must be sold to “[one or more] suitably qualified up-front buyers”.
The reason for this demand was to remove concerns about competition in 642 localities around the country, should the deal go through.
The merger
The planned merger between Coral and Ladbrokes was first floated as an idea in June of 2015, if it goes through, the deal will create a combined operation worth well in excess of £2 billion.
With a possibility of this large a combined operation, there were concerns from the CMA that a negative effect would be had on competition across land based casinos in the UK, a worry that should now be significantly lessened by the news that Ladbrokes and Coral have agreed to the shop closures demanded by the CMA.
Open to sellers
There has been much speculation as to who may purchase the stores if Ladbrokes and Coral sell, but now the news is in that the two companies have agreed to the shop sales, the CMA made it very clear in a statement that offers can still be made.
“On July 26, the CMA announced that Ladbrokes and Coral must sell around 350 to 400 licensed betting offices (LBOs) in order to obtain clearance of their merger and preserve competition in 642 local markets where the companies’ betting products overlap.”
“Ladbrokes and Coral have offered undertakings to sell the required number of LBOs to a suitable buyer to be approved by the CMA.”