In the UK, the Rank Group’s deal to acquire Gala Coral’s casinos becomes non-binding at midnight on Wednesday.
In May, Rank announced that it had conditionally agreed to acquire Gala’s casino business for £205m. This acquisition was conditional upon the approval of Rank shareholders and upon receipt of UK merger control clearance by September 19.
On August 20, the Office of Fair Trading announced that it had referred the acquisition to the Competition Commission. As a result, the move will not become unconditional and ceases to be formally binding on the two parties at midnight on Wednesday.
The two companies today revealed that they are continuing to assist the Competition Commission with its inquiry into the proposed acquisition of Gala Casinos.
They are now continuing discussions in relation to appropriate amendments to the terms of the acquisition in light of the reference to the Competition Commission.
Should the transaction be given the green light, Rank would become the UK’s largest casino operator by number of venues.
