Gala Coral to sell Gala Bingo for over £240m

Coral has announced it is to sell its Gala Bingo retail brand to investment trust company Caledonia Investments for £241m.

The deal includes 130 Gala Bingo clubs and is conditional upon approval from the UK Gambling Commission, which the operator expects to take up to two months.

Caledonia will trade with the bingo clubs under the Gala brand through a licence agreement between both parties and Gala Coral will retain both the Gala brand and the websites Galabingo.com and Galacasino.com.

It was announced in July that Gala Coral is to merge with fellow operator Ladbrokes, and the merger is awaiting approval from the Competition and Markets Authority.

Gala Coral said that the sale of Gala Retail is unrelated to the planned merger, which includes certain businesses of Gala Coral but does not include Gala Retail.

Gala Retail CEO Simon Wykes will be remaining with the business.

The Gala Group acquired Coral Eurobet in 2005 and transformed it into an integrated betting and gaming company.

Gala Bingo claims it holds a 38% market share.