Rank in Talks with Rival Gala for Buy-Out
Monday 6th February, 2012
Gaming group Rank is said to be in talks with Gala Coral about acquisition of the company's casino business in a deal that could be worth as much as £250 million. If the deal be finalised it would make Rank the largest casino operator in Britain.
Buying Gala's casinos would hasten Rank's expansions plans from the existing 35 Grosvenor casinos by an additional 24 venues. Rank is already in the process of converting many Grosvenor venues to the new G Casino brand which is targeted at a younger clientele. The first of these were rolled out in 2006 in Manchester.
A spokesperson at Rank said, "Casinos are our biggest business so there is always room for us to grow. We would be interested in any opportunities and would be a natural acquirer of the Gala casinos business if it came on the market and the price was right."
Last month Gala who is said to have also received interest in its bingo division, disclosed it had debts worth £1.2 billion and selling the casino business would help the gaming operator strengthen its finances.
