Ladbrokes to combine with smaller sized competing Coral
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Bookmakers Ladbrokes has announced it prepares to combine with Gala Coral in an bet9ja's welcome offer anticipated to value the organization at ₤ 2.3 bn.
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The relocation will take it past the current high street leader, William Hill, integrating Ladbrokes' 2,100 stores with Coral's 1,845.

Current Ladbrokes president, external, Jim Mullen, will become boss of the yohaig code merged company, named Ladbrokes Coral.

The two firms had announced merger talks last month.
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Peter Erskine, chairman of Ladbrokes, hailed the merger as a "major tactical step for Ladbrokes".

He added: "Together, we will produce a leading betting and gaming service. The transaction will supply an appealing opportunity to create substantial value for both sets of investors."
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Analysis: Jonty Bloom, BBC service reporter

The finest method at looking at the challenges facing the merged betting giant of Ladbrokes and Coral is that they have tried to merge previously.

In 1998 that prepared deal was compressed by Peter Mandelson, the trade and market minister at the time, on the grounds that it would dominate the market. Yet at that time the greatest danger to Ladbrokes and Coral did not even exist.

Betfair is the world's biggest internet-based betting exchange and it was not founded till 2000.

It is just one of a huge number of online betting companies that pay lower tax bills, can complete for company both here and around the globe and face few of the fixed expenses of owning thousands of stores on the British High Street.
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The reasoning behind this promotion code merger is to create a company that will stand a better chance of taking on those online giants.
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To money the offer Ladbrokes will provide 93 million brand-new shares to investors, representing 10% of the business.

Gala Coral has been owned by a variety of personal equity companies, including Apollo Global Management, Cerberus Capital Management, Anchorage Capital Partners and Park Square Capital, since 2010, when it collapsed under ₤ 2.5 bn of debt.

Ladbrokes shares closed down 3.3% at 124.1 p.

Before the merger talks started, Gala Coral had designated Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to recommend on a possible stock exchange launching, at first prepared for October.
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The deal comes simply over a week after online bookmaker 888 Holdings won a takeover battle with GVC Holdings for rival Bwin.party in a money and shares deal valued at about ₤ 898m.

Ladbrokes in Gala Coral merger talks
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