Ladbrokes must be breathing a sigh of relief after the Competition and Markets Authority finally gave the green light for the merger with Coral. We reported on this deal before and there has been a grey cloud hanging over the merger. It remained to be seen if the Competition and Markets Authority was going to approve the merger or not.
Ladbrokes to become the largest bookmaker
The reason behind the delay was because the Competition and Markets Authority had to do a thorough evaluation and assessment on the impact of Ladbrokes and Coral joining forces. Currently, William Hill is the largest retail bookmaker in the country, but this merger will change that.
There were concerns that this merger would make things worse for the consumer and the industry as a whole. However, after careful consideration, the Competition and Markets Authority has decided to allow the merger, which was valued at around £2.3 billion to go through.
Ladbrokes currently owns and runs 2150 betting outlets in Britain and a further 77 in Northern Ireland, while Coral runs 1850 outlets in Britain. The Competition and Markets Authority identified 642 areas where competition would be negatively affected by this merger and has put some conditions in place.
Ladbrokes and Coral required to close shops
Ladbrokes and Coral will be required to close 400 shops, which is the same figure the Competition and Markets Authority gave back in May 2016, when its provisional report first came out. This is great news because it means there won’t be any additional shop closures and no additional lost jobs. Funnily enough, while this should be the end of the story, it’s not quite over yet
William Hill fires back at Ladbrokes
With the merger between Ladbrokes and Coral, the company will become the largest bookmaking firm in the United Kingdom, taking the top spot from William Hill. However, it has since been reported that William Hill was approached by 888 and the Rank Group about a potential merger, which could once again see them take the top spot. Time will tell how this all shakes out.
