Last year’s merger with Coral gave Ladbrokes greater size, but only increased the appeal for the acquisitive GVC
Ladbrokes Coral’s bosses will try to sound cheerful about the prospect of being taken over by GVC Holdings, the company behind Sportingbet and Foxy Bingo. But, on the long view, this deal would be a corporate humiliation.
Ladbrokes is one of the oldest names in British bookmaking and still collects the largest revenues. It traces its roots to 1886 and, under chairman Cyril Stein, boomed after the legalisation of betting shops in 1961. When Stein retired in 1993, the company, with a collection of Hilton hotels at a time, was worth £2bn. Now, a quarter of century later and with Coral on board, it is in discussions to surrender for just £3.1bn, plus a potential £800m kicker, to an Isle of Man-based company that was worth only £100m five years ago. David, after bulking up with a few deals, is bidding for Goliath.
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