CMA to announce if Gala Coral and Ladbrokes merger is approved

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority is expected to announce if Gala Coral and Ladbrokes merger has been approved.

UK.- This week, Gala Coral and Ladbrokes are expected to hear if the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will allow the proposed merger of the two betting firms. It has transpired that the CMA will allow the deal worth £2.3 billion (US$3.3 billion) to proceed.

According to experts, if the merger is successful, the CMA will add a caveat that forces Ladbrokes and Coral to sell about 500 of their combined 4,000 betting shops, which employ approximately 30,000 workers, in order to satisfy competition concerns.

If the merger is approved, the combined firms will beat William Hill as the largest bookmaker in Britain as Ladbrokes and Coral are second and third behind William Hill. However, if approved, the merger will force the companies to sell off hundreds of their betting shops.

After concluding that the almost 9,000 shops that comprise retail betting include the online market, Ladbrokes and Coral are confident that the merger will be allowed by the CMA. Concerns over competition arose and William Hill, among other interested parties, called on the CMA to halt the merger.

Back in June 2015, Ladbrokes and Gala Coral announced that they were considering a merger and the reaching a deal next month that would combine Ladbrokes 2,100 shops and 1,845 from Coral, creating one gambling giant named Ladbrokes Coral.