According to the Guardian, Gala Coral is preparing a £540 million bid to buy the Tote, Britain\’s state owned betting service. The bid is equivalent to almost £1m for every high street betting shop that the Tote owns. If successful, Gala Coral will rival Ladbrokes and William Hill as the country\’s largest bookmaker with around 1,900 shops.
Both Ladbrokes and Hills ruled out a bid for the Tote as they consider it unlikely to pass competition regulators.
Gala Coral, owned by private equity firms Candover, Cinven and Permira, is Europe\’s biggest betting and gaming group. It is is expected to float in 2008 with a valuation of over £5.5bn.
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