Ladbrokes
Merged share of high street 45%
Ladbrokes has been in the dog house for so long that the arrival of a favourable analysts’ note on its merger with Coral to create the group with the most betting shops on the high street must have come as a surprise.
It is hard at this stage to estimate what the merged group will look like, but the deal will at least go ahead, after an overwhelmingly positive vote from investors last November.
The uncertainty is over the inquiry by the Competition and Markets Authority. Putting together the two online operations, both of which run on Playtech’s platform, would create a group with about 15 per cent of the UK online market, within striking distance of the