Stop the presses, we're bringing you news of one of the biggest mergers in betting and gambling history. The biggest names in the industry, Ladbrokes and Gala Coral, are uniting to form a huge company worth an unbelievable £2.3 billion.
This gigantic corporation will have the most betting shops in the UK with over 4000 outlets, which is almost twice as much as William Hill who would be the next biggest company. The physical betting shops are not the only thing that's expanding, both companies' online portfolios are bigger and better than ever as they expand.
The new company will be known as Ladbrokes Coral going forward and they'll have any UK competitors quaking in their boots as they take up a huge portion of the market. The companies were industry leaders alone but together they stand to control a huge portion of betting in the UK. Their estimated annual net revenue will be a huge £2.1 billion, giving them one of the biggest incomes for any bookmakers.
It's not just the UK that Ladbrokes Coral will operate in as the separate companies already have licenced divisions in Europe. Bringing the two together will surely strengthen their presence in other countries and widen their consumer base even further. The companies will also see the benefit of a pooled digital department, so they can work together to innovate the latest products on the market for their customers.
Current Ladbrokes Chief Executive, Jim Mullen, will become the CEO of Ladbrokes Coral going forward but he will also be joined by executives from the Gala Coral team as the groups merge. They'll have an all new board of merged executives too, to make sure that they are leading the new company in the most profitable way.
The groups do admit that some restructuring of employees may be necessary but they're hoping to give existing employees new opportunities and retain as many as possible. The Chief Operating Officer of Gala Coral, Andy Hornby, will be one of the employees whose job will simply transfer over to the new company.
The two companies' current chairman and CEO expressed their hopes that the merged entity will do better than ever and create a new, more profitable synergy. They also pointed out the similarities between the two companies that make them a good match, including their respective histories and reputations in the UK.
The companies both have long and rich histories in the UK and have contributed to the market for many years. The Coral portion of the Gala Coral group goes all the way back to 1926, so they've been existing and operating in the market for just under 90 years. Ladbrokes goes back even further as it was founded well over a decade ago in 1886, with so much experience between the two companies the success of Ladbrokes Coral is very nearly a sure thing.
Any other betting provider will be dwarfed by the sheer mass of Ladbrokes Coral and they may become the very best provider in the UK in just a few short months.
