GVC finally acquires Ladbrokes Coral

The deal that was agreed last December, values up to £4bn (€4.49bn/$5.55bn). From now on, visitors of Ladbrokes Coral’s website are redirected to GVC’s homepage.

Ladbrokes, operating from 1902 and being a founding member of the original FTSE 100, it will now watch its shares being deleted from the London Stock Exchange. 271,816,558 ordinary shares of €0.01 each in the capital of GVC have been created last Friday, according to the new deal.

Kenneth Alexander, GVC chief executive seemed rather optimistic about the new deal: “The creation of one of the world' s largest listed sports betting companies, combining a portfolio of established brands, proven technology and leading market positions in multiple geographies, is a truly exciting prospect”. He highlighted that the takeover will create an enlarged diverse group with cutting edge technological aspect and management expertise ready to chase new global challenges. Large operations have already been agreed in Australia and the United States.

GVS will pass to Ladbrokes32.7p per share, which may touch the 42.8p depending on the government’s decision on FOBT stakes and 0.141 new shares. The new group will have the biggest share of the gambling pie in the UK, Germany and Italy. GVS in exchange will add to its business 3,500 Ladbrokes betting shops. Noel Hamill, former EE (UK mobile telecoms operator) executive will be the Chief Marketing Officer of the enlarged group of businesses.

A few words on GVC

The company was founded as GVC Holdings in Luxemburg in 2004. It is a betting bookmaker, offering its services both in Business to Consumer (B2C) and Business to Business (B2B) plan. GVC’s group already includes leading operators such us Bwin, Sportingbet, PartyPoker, Foxy Bingo and Foxy Casino.

A few words on Ladbrokes Coral

Ladbrokes Coral is the outcome of another marriage in the betting industry in 2016 when Ladbrokes acquired its rival, Coral. The company is based in London, is leading betting company in the UK and has 25.000 employees. The company was a member of FTSE 250 INDEX till its recent acquisition by GVC.