THE owner of Mecca Bingo is rumoured to be mulling over a bid for the casino arm of its rival Gala Coral.
The Sunday Times has suggested Rank and Gala Coral are at an advanced stage of talks over a £250m deal. The bid would enable Rank to create the biggest operator in the UK, adding Gala’s 24 outlets to its 35 Grosvenor Casinos outlets. All but four of its casinos are based outside London, and it employs more than 3,000 people.
At present, the UK’s largest casino operator is Malaysian firm Genting, which has 45 sites including the Crockfords casino in London’s Mayfair.
The newspaper suggests that a deal could be completed in time for Rank’s interim results on February 9, and would give a boost to the firm’s plans to have 45 Grosvenor Casinos outlets by the end of 2015. It is focusing on a younger and less formal crowd through the roll-out of its G-Casino brand.
Rank is majority owned by Guoco, the investment vehicle of Malaysian billionaire Quek Leng Chan, and owns more than 100 Mecca Bingo branded clubs as well as the Bluesq sports betting business.
It is believed a deal for the casino unit would allow Gala Coral to focus on its Gala bingo and Coral bookmaking divisions. It is run by creditors led by Apollo Global Management LLC. Its net debts were £1.3bn at the end of 2011, and it has been speculated for a long time that its owners would be open to bids for elements of the business.
