10 percent of inventory
The super-merger between U.K. bookmakers Ladbrokes and Gala Coral cannot proceed until the bookies sell off a combined 350 to 400 betting shops, according to Reuters. The proposed £2.2 billion merger is on hold until then, the Competition and Markets Authority said.
Without the sell-off, the CMA maintains, the deal could “lead to a worsening of the offer made to customers at both a local and national level,” and cause “a substantial lessening of competition.” It pinpointed more than 640 communities where the merger would be likely to have a deleterious effect. The sales must be approved by the CMA and be “substantially completed” before the merger can go ahead.
The targeted shops account for about 10 percent of the combined group’s portfolio of betting shops, but the number is much lower than the bookies anticipated—earlier this year, it was reported that the merged company would have to get rid of up to 1,000 shops.
When the merger is complete, it will give Ladbrokes Coral 4,000 shops, far more than William Hill’s 2,400 U.K. locations, and make it the biggest high street operator in the country. A wave of consolidation has hit U.K. bookmakers as online gaming shifts profit margins from bricks-and-mortar stores.
