Ladbrokes Coral rejects GVC takeover bid

The merged company rejected GVC’s attempt to takeover as it disagrees with the value of the offer.

UK.- Ladbrokes Coral has reportedly rejected GVC’s £3.6 billion takeover bid, which supposed an inventive of 50p per share. The Financial Times revealed that Ladbrokes Coral governance will not present the offer to the investors as they disagree with the company’s value.

The governance of the company rejected the deal as shareholders close to the negotiations confirmed to the news outlet that merger talks are no longer active. The takeover would’ve created one of the world’s largest betting companies, considering that Ladbrokes Coral features 3500 high street shops in the United Kingdom. This is the second time that GVC attempts to buy the merged company, the first happening in 2016 when Ladbrokes was in talks with Coral to complete the £2.2 billion takeover.

The two sources said that the uncertainty around UK’s government review of the gambling sector that is supposed to be released this Autumn played an important role to dismiss the offer. The authorities have targeted fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) and gaming advertising. Latest probe has jeopardised millionaire revenues as well as tens of thousands of employees. The national idea is to limit gaming publicity and to reduce FOBTs maximum stakes from £100 to just £2 as the Gambling Commission published evidence that they could be harmful for players.