GVC Holdings Plc has made an offer for the entire issued share capital of Ladbrokes Coral, the giant UK bookmaker. The deal, which is recommended by the Ladbrokes Coral Board, will see the creation of one of the world’s largest sports betting, casino, poker and bingo groups.
Its well-known brands include bwin, Sportingbet, gamebookers, partypoker and Foxy Bingo.
The offer price values Ladbrokes Coral at £4bn and following completion, Ladbrokes Coral shareholders will hold around 46.5 per cent of the enlarged group. It will then be one of the largest listed sports book operators in the world by wagers and the largest listed online-led betting and gaming operator by revenue. It will have top three market positions in three of Europe’s largest online gaming markets, the UK, Germany and Italy. In addition it will have significant business in Australia and exposure in the US.
The enlarged group board will comprise Lee Feldman as chairman, Ken Alexander as CEO, Paul Bowtell as CFO and several non-executive directors.
GVC has just completed the sale of its Headlong Turkish operations to Ropso Malta.
The merger is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2018.
