Ladbrokes Coral in talks on takeover by Foxy Bingo owner GVC
GAMBLING GIANT Ladbrokes is in “detailed” talks over a takeover by online rival and Foxy Bingo owner GVC in a deal worth up to £3.9bn.
GVC – which also owns Sportingbet and PartyCasino – has tabled a cash-and-shares approach valuing Ladbrokes at 160.9p a share, with loan notes on top worth an extra 42.8p a share.
The tie-up would create an online-led gambling giant with operations worldwide.
It would see Ladbrokes Coral shareholders own around 46.5 per cent of the combined group and GVC around 53 per cent.
GVC chief executive Kenneth Alexander is expected to lead the combined group, although the firms said plans for the final management line-up would be worked out over the coming weeks.
The firms said: “The enlarged group would be an online-led globally positioned betting and gaming business that would benefit from a multi-brand, multi-channel strategy applied across some of the strongest brands in the sector.
“The enlarged group would be geographically diversified with a large portfolio of businesses across both regulated and developing markets, with the scale and resources to address the dynamics of a rapidly changing global industry.”
The talks come after two previous attempts at a deal between the pair, but the latest discussions broke down in the summer over price and ahead of the Government’s gambling review.
The final price that GVC is prepared to pay for Ladbrokes depends on the outcome of the review of fixed-odds betting terminals (FOTBs), which could see the maximum stake slashed to as little as £2 from £100.