GVC achieves unanimous shareholder support for Ladbrokes Coral acquisition

Business media reports from London Thursday revel that online gambling group GVC Holdings plc has received almost total shareholder support for its proposed acquisition of rival Ladbrokes Coral in a clever deal that takes into account possible cuts to the maximum betting rates that may be imposed by government on the controversial Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (see previous reports).

The machines are a crucial part of profits in high street bookmaking stores and fears have been rising that ministers will slash the stake limit to such an extent as to make normal business unviable. GVC has worked around this with a contingent variable rate – effectively a sliding scale of how much the acquirer would pay for its target – based on the outcome of the Government review.

GVC will now pay roughly GBP 3.2 billion for Ladbrokes Coral in cash and shares after receiving 99.9 percent backing from its shareholders for the purchase. It will pay nothing more if FOBT stakes are cut to GBP 2 but the total deal value could rise to GBP 4 billion if the Government only reduces stakes to GBP 50. The deal is expected to complete later this month.

In recent years GVC has added major companies like Sportingbet, PartyPoker and Bwin to its list of subsidiaries.