Ladbrokes the leading British bookmaker and online casino operator has merged with the Gala Coral Group. The new company which will possibly be the largest bookmaker in the United Kingdom will be worth 2.3 billion pounds. The company formed from Ladbrokes and Gala Coral is to be called Ladbrokes Coral. Jim Mullen the Chief Executive Officer of Ladbrokes will be the Chief Executive officer of the newly formed Ladbrokes Coral and Carl Leaver the current Chief Executive Officer of Gala Coral will be the new vice chairman.
Need for mergers
Due to changes in the rules governing gambling in the United Kingdom and the introduction of the point of consumption tax on online casinos offering their services to players in the United Kingdom, many of the largest British gambling companies or companies targeting gamblers in Britain, have merged or taken over their rivals. Recently 888 Holdings made a bid of almost 900 million pounds to buy Bwin.Party in a move that saw 888 Holdings win out over a higher offer from GVC. However GVC with new backing was to put in a new bid. By joining with Gala Coral, Ladbrokes will be able to combine its 6 per cent of the gambling market in the United Kingdom with Gala Coral’s 8 per cent making the new group larger than rival William Hill.
Online gambling growth
Ladbrokes is said to have had difficulty keeping up with William Hill in the area of online gambling but with Gala Coral on board this should be a growth area for the company. Ladbrokes has run an online casino, Ladbrokes Online since 2000. The new company is to build up its internet presence especially in the mobile gambling sector. Playtech, the online gaming developer who provides Ladbroke’s Online Casino’s live casino platform is to be bought out by Ladbroke’s as part of the merger deal so Playtech will only retain under 5 per cent of the new company. Together Ladbrokes and Gala Coral will have 4000 betting shops in the United Kingdom which means that the new group will have nearly half of this market. However, the country’s regulators will be looking into this and will possibly decide that some of these shops will need to be closed.
Ladbrokes Casino : #1 Live Casino
The newly formed Ladbrokes Coral Group is to develop its online casino offering as a result of the recent merger. Ladbrokes Casino which holds a gaming licence from Gibraltar offers players games in both a downloadable and flash version. The live casino which is streamed from Playtech’s casino studio in Riga, Latvia offers players live games of roulette, blackjack, baccarat and Texas Hold’em poker. Ladbrokes Live Casino app is available for iPad use.
Leave A Comment