The board of Ladbrokes has issued a statement addressing some of the issues raised by billionaire shareholder Dermot Desmond, who this week called the proposed £2bn merger with Coral “the wrong deal” for Ladbrokes.
Desmond, who holds a stake of approximately one per cent, said the deal was “effectively the death of Ladbrokes as an independent company” in an open letter to investors.
In today’s statement, the Ladbrokes board said it has had “significant dealings with Mr Desmond as both a shareholder and a commercial partner over recent times including the Ladbrokes acquisition of Betdaq and Chronicle Bookmakers,” going on to stress what it sees as the key benefits of the proposed merger.
“The directors reiterate their recommendation to shareholders to vote in favour of the resolutions to be proposed at the general meeting to be held on November, 24.”
Ladbrokes also sought to clarify that Playtech is not considered to be an "independent Ladbrokes shareholder" and so any votes cast by Playtech will not be counted in respect of two of the resolutions being proposed, namely resolutions three and four.
The Ladbrokes board said it “remains confident that shareholders will see the attraction of the proposed merger and continues to work towards a successful conclusion to the proposed transaction.”
Desmond, meanwhile, wants the deal to be reviewed by an independent investment bank.
