GVC/Ladbrokes Coral Merger Could Result in 1,600 Layoffs

We are on the brink of one of the biggest takeovers in the history of the gambling industry. Of course, we are talking about the GVC Holdings acquisition of the Ladbrokes Coral Group.

The two parties have been ironing out the deal for the last couple of months, slowly releasing the details. First, we got the estimated worth of the deal, which is somewhere in-between £3.2 and £4 billion.

Then the details surfaced up that Ladbrokes Coral will own 46.5% of the entire company. And today, news came out that both groups will probably have to fire around 1,600 people after the merger.

6% of employees will lose their jobs

GVC Holdings, one of the most prominent casino operators, runs famous UK PayPal casinos like partypoker, PartyCasino, as well as some betting websites like Sportingbet and Bwin. They currently employ more than 2,800 people in Europe, Asia, North and South America. On the other hand, Ladbrokes Coral is UK’s biggest FOBTs (fixed-odds betting terminal) operator, and they have around 25,000 employees.

Most of the layoffs will be in the customer service, marketing, and administration sector. Furthermore, Ladbrokes Coral will most likely have to shut down their headquarters in London, with most of the employees relocating to the GVC’s head office.

Interestingly, most experts believed that the layoffs would affect Ladbrokes Coral betting shops, but for now, they won’t.

Finally, the CMA is currently reviewing the GVC/Ladbrokes Coral merger to see if any negative effects can come out of it. Once the CMA finishes the review process, the two companies plan to finalise the deal. Right now, there is no set date, but they aim to have everything done in the first half of 2018.