Gala Coral has sold its 130-venue Gala Bingo retail division to Caledonia Investments in a deal worth £241m.
The sale, which is expected to pave the way for Gala Coral’s proposed merger with bookmaker Ladbrokes, will see the clubs continue to trade under the Gala brand through a licence agreement between the two parties.
Caledonia Investments is a self-managed investment trust company with net assists of £1.6bn.
Gala Coral will retain both the Gala brand and the websites Galabingo.com and Galacasino.com.
Carl Leaver, chief executive of Gala Coral, said he was pleased to have agreed the sale following a “competitive process.”
“The sale is another transformative step for Gala Coral Group, following the turnaround of the business over the past few years,” he said. “We wish the Gala retail team all the very best for the future and believe the business will continue to thrive under its new owners. Gala Coral Group remains focussed on growing and developing our retail bookmaking and online businesses, and concluding the proposed merger with Ladbrokes.”
Gala Retail’s management team, led by CEO Simon Wykes, is understood to be remaining with the business.
Commenting on the acquisition, Duncan Johnson, head of unquoted investments at Caledonia, said he was “delighted to be backing Simon Wykes and his team in the next chapter of its history.”
“Its defensive, enduring business model, which delivers strong cash generation and dividend yield, fit ideally with the investment criteria sought by Caledonia for its unquoted portfolio and complements our other assets in the unquoted pool,” he said. “As with our other unquoted investments, Gala Bingo will pay an attractive yield from inception.”
