GVC/ Ladbrokes Coral deal clears final hurdle in High Court
The multi-billion pound takeover of Ladbrokes Coral by global gaming firm GVC Holdings cleared its final potential obstacle late last night when the UK High Court approved the deal.
Justices in the High Court unanimously voted to approve the £4bn deal, greenlighting the scheme of arrangement between the two companies.
This latest approval follows positive decisions from the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) and shareholders in both firms, who met earlier this month.
Under the terms of the takeover process, Ladbrokes Coral will delist its shares from the London Stock Exchange tomorrow morning, with a concurrent application submitted for 273 million new shares in GVC for trading on Thursday, at a price of €0.01 per share.
Existing Ladbrokes Coral shareholders will receive 32.7p per share and 0.141 in new GVC shares, making the deal worth around £3.2bn.
However shareholders could receive an additional entitlement of 42.8p, which is contingent on the UK governments decision on fixed odds betting terminals. This additional entitlement will push the final acquisition cost past the £4bn barrier.
Should the government decide to proceed with the proposed restrictions on maximum stakes payable, Ladbrokes Coral’s asset value could potentially be reduced, at a cost of almost 1,500 jobs and hitting the profits of the groups 3,500 UK betting shops.
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