{"id":29574,"date":"2015-06-23T12:35:18","date_gmt":"2015-06-23T19:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=29574"},"modified":"2015-06-23T12:39:11","modified_gmt":"2015-06-23T19:39:11","slug":"ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/","title":{"rendered":"Ladbrokes and Gala Coral Proposed Merger Could Form Bookmaking Superpower"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jim
Jim Mullen, Ladbrokes CEO, says: \u201cA merger has the potential to generate substantial cost synergies, creating value for both companies\u2019 shareholders.\u201d (Image: standard.co.uk)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ladbrokes<\/a> and Gala Coral, two of Britain\u2019s largest betting businesses, have begun negotiations over a possible merger, which, if realized, would create a bookmaking superpower.<\/p>\n

An alliance of the two companies would create a group with almost 4,000 high street betting shops<\/a> across the UK, dwarfing the incumbent market leader William Hill, which has around 2,400 outlets.<\/p>\n

But there’s no certainty that the discussions, which center on combining Ladbrokes with Coral Retail, Eurobet Retail, and Gala Coral’s online firms, will lead to an agreement, Ladbrokes stressed in a press release.<\/p>\n

CEO Jim Mullen said that the board was still determining whether a deal would be the right move for the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cA merger with Gala Coral could create a combined business with significant scale and has the potential to generate substantial cost synergies, creating value for both companies\u2019 shareholders.\u00a0The Board has not yet concluded whether a transaction is strategically attractive and can be delivered to shareholders on appropriate terms,\u201d Mullen said.<\/p>\n

Digital Enhancement<\/h2>\n

However, a consolidation of the two companies\u2019 online operations may prove to be attractive to Ladbrokes. Mullen was brought in three months ago to shore up the company\u2019s digital arm, which recorded shaky results in 2014. Total online profits for the year fell over 70 percent, from \u00a310.8 million ($16.9m) to \u00a33 million ($4.7m), while poker reported a 31 percent fall in revenue. Online poker now accounts for just 2 percent of digital revenues, the company said.<\/p>\n

Over all its operations, Ladbrokes reported a large fall in pre-tax profit for 2014, from \u00a368m ($106.8m) to \u00a338m ($59.7m). The company said that it expected to close 60 UK shops this year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cSince becoming CEO my focus has been on a more aggressive plan to build digital scale and grow our recreational customer base across all channels, which is key to creating a more sustainable and growing Ladbrokes,\u201d said Mullen, who previously oversaw the development of main rivals William Hill\u2019s online operations. \u201cMy plans are well advanced and I look forward to presenting them to shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n

1998 Acquisition Attempt<\/h2>\n

Ladbrokes previously attempted to buy Coral back in 1998, but the acquisition was vetoed by the Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Mandelson. The effect of removing Coral as an important third national competitive force in the off-course betting market, would, said Mandelson, \u201clead to a weakening of price competition at the national level; a dampening effect on innovation; and a reduction in consumer choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

If completed, the deal would be structured as a reverse takeover of publicly traded Ladbrokes by Coral, which is owned by private equity firms.<\/p>\n

Shares in Ladbrokes rose 20 percent in the wake of today\u2019s news.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ladbrokes and Gala Coral, two of Britain\u2019s largest betting businesses, have begun negotiations over a possible merger, which, if realized, would create a bookmaking superpower. An alliance of the two companies would create a group with almost 4,000 high street betting shops across the UK, dwarfing the incumbent market leader William Hill, which has around […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":29584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,19,16],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLadbrokes and Gala Coral Proposed Merger Could Form Bookmaking Superpower<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ladbrokes and Gala Coral could form UK bookmaking behemoth if a proposed merger goes ahead.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ladbrokes and Gala Coral Proposed Merger Could Form Bookmaking Superpower\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ladbrokes and Gala Coral could form UK bookmaking behemoth if a proposed merger goes ahead.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-23T19:35:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-06-23T19:39:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Jim-Mullen-Ladbrokes-CEO-Gala-Coral-Merger.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"413\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/\",\"name\":\"Ladbrokes and Gala Coral Proposed Merger Could Form Bookmaking Superpower\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Jim-Mullen-Ladbrokes-CEO-Gala-Coral-Merger.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-23T19:35:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-06-23T19:39:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Ladbrokes and Gala Coral could form UK bookmaking behemoth if a proposed merger goes ahead.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Jim-Mullen-Ladbrokes-CEO-Gala-Coral-Merger.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Jim-Mullen-Ladbrokes-CEO-Gala-Coral-Merger.jpg\",\"width\":620,\"height\":413,\"caption\":\"Jim Mullen, Ladbrokes CEO, says: \u201cA merger has the potential to generate substantial cost synergies, creating value for both companies\u2019 shareholders.\u201d (Image: standard.co.uk)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sports Betting\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Sports\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/sports\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Ladbrokes and Gala Coral Proposed Merger Could Form Bookmaking Superpower\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\",\"name\":\"Casino.org Staff Writer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Casino.org Staff Writer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/corg-staff-writer\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ladbrokes and Gala Coral Proposed Merger Could Form Bookmaking Superpower","description":"Ladbrokes and Gala Coral could form UK bookmaking behemoth if a proposed merger goes ahead.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ladbrokes and Gala Coral Proposed Merger Could Form Bookmaking Superpower","og_description":"Ladbrokes and Gala Coral could form UK bookmaking behemoth if a proposed merger goes ahead.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2015-06-23T19:35:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-06-23T19:39:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":620,"height":413,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Jim-Mullen-Ladbrokes-CEO-Gala-Coral-Merger.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Casino.org Staff Writer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Casino.org Staff Writer","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/","name":"Ladbrokes and Gala Coral Proposed Merger Could Form Bookmaking Superpower","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Jim-Mullen-Ladbrokes-CEO-Gala-Coral-Merger.jpg","datePublished":"2015-06-23T19:35:18+00:00","dateModified":"2015-06-23T19:39:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77"},"description":"Ladbrokes and Gala Coral could form UK bookmaking behemoth if a proposed merger goes ahead.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Jim-Mullen-Ladbrokes-CEO-Gala-Coral-Merger.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Jim-Mullen-Ladbrokes-CEO-Gala-Coral-Merger.jpg","width":620,"height":413,"caption":"Jim Mullen, Ladbrokes CEO, says: \u201cA merger has the potential to generate substantial cost synergies, creating value for both companies\u2019 shareholders.\u201d (Image: standard.co.uk)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ladbrokes-gala-coral-proposed-merger\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sports Betting","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Sports","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/sports\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Ladbrokes and Gala Coral Proposed Merger Could Form Bookmaking Superpower"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77","name":"Casino.org Staff Writer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Casino.org Staff Writer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/corg-staff-writer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29574"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}