Rank has agreed terms with Gala Coral to buy 19 of the 23 casinos envisioned in their original deal, as well as three “cold” or non-operational licences.
The Mecca Bingo owner received clearance from the UK Competition Commission for the reduced takeover last month, aimed at preserving competition in the bricks ‘n’ mortar casino market in five areas of the UK: Aberdeen, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Stockton-on-Tees.
The transaction will see Rank’s Grosvenor Casinos chain grow to 54 active properties, transforming the London-listed entertainment group into the UK’s largest bricks ‘n’ mortar casino operator ahead of Genting, which operates 44, soon to grow to 45 with the conversion of London’s Fox Poker Club.
Rank chairman and CEO Ian Burke said the deal would grow awareness of the GCasino brand and “support the development of a multi-channel gaming business.”
Today’s deal is conditional on Rank disposing of its non-operational licence in Edinburgh to a buyer pre-approved by the CC. Around 2,200 Gala Casino employees will transfer to the Rank Group as part of the acquisition.
The original deal agreed between the two companies last July valued 23 Gala Casinos at £205m. This lapsed in September 2012 after the CC opened its investigation into the merger’s potential to create an “irreversible” loss of competition in the UK’s bricks ‘n’ mortar casino market.
Article written by Stephen Carter
