GVC’s latest bid for Lads Coral fails; PartyPoker exit Australia

UK-listed online gambling operator GVC Holdings has once again aborted discussions to acquire UK rival Ladbrokes Coral Group.

On Tuesday, UK media reported that GVC had made a new offer to acquire Ladbrokes Coral, the online/retail gambling behemoth created last year via the £2.2b merger of Ladbrokes and Gala Coral Group. Sources claimed talks had been going on for several weeks but fell apart for a number of reasons, including a failure to agree on a valuation of the company.

The Financial Times reported that GVC had offered £2.7b for Lads Coral, or roughly 140p per share, although GVC reportedly proposed boosting that per-share offer by 50p, which would have pushed the total offer to £3.6b.

This £900m top-up was reportedly contingent on the findings of the UK government’s pending triennial review of the gambling industry. The review, which is expected to be released this autumn, could result in further restrictions on gambling advertising as well as potentially significant curbs on the use of fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) in betting shops. Ladbrokes Coral relies on FOBTs for a significant chunk of its revenue.