Ladbrokes Coral Consider Tabcorp Takeover

Newly merged UK mega-bookmaker, Ladbrokes Coral, is eying Tabcorp Holdings with a view to expand its presence in Australia. The company is reportedly considering a bid to takeover the Australian gambling giant.

The Mail on Sunday has reported that Ladbrokes Coral has appointed advisors to prepare a takeover bid for Tabcorp and an offer is expected to be made in the next few weeks. The company is expected to deliver a statement for the stock market opening on Monday morning.

Ladbrokes Coral completed their £2.4 billion merger earlier this month, resulting in a gambling company that controls the largest number of retail betting shops in the UK. Just last month, Tabcorp announced they are in the middle of merger negotiations with Tatts, the result of which would be an A$11 billion company with annual revenue expected to be more than $5 billion.

The merger between Tabcorp and Tatts has not been completed; however, Tabcorp announced last week that they had purchased a 10 percent stake in Tatts as a strategic move to help ensure the success of the merger negotiations. This merger is expected to reduce competition from UK bookmakers, creating an impressive local entity; however, regulators rejected a similar deal between the two companies around a decade ago.

According to reports, the UK bookmaker would only consider a takeover of Tabcorp, without Tatts involved which may require Tabcorp to choose between the two companies. Ladbrokes approached Tabcorp already once, back in 2013, however their takeover bid was rejected at that time. Today, Tabcorp’s current market cap is A$3.87 billion (£2.3 billion); however, if it accepts a takeover bid from Ladbrokes Coral, it would create a £5 billion International gaming giant.

Ladbrokes Coral has declined to comment at this stage.