The UK Competition Commission yesterday published its final report on the proposed acquisition of Gala Casinos by The Rank Group.
As a result, Rank will be able to proceed with the purchase of 19 of the 23 casinos as well as three non-operating licences. Rank announced in May last year that it had conditionally agreed to acquire the casinos from Gala Coral.
The original agreement anticipated the possibility of the Office of Fair Trading requiring a limited number of casinos to be excluded from the acquisition. In August last year the OFT referred the matter to the Competition Commission for an in-depth review.
Rank and Gala Coral are continuing their discussions in relation to appropriate amendments to the terms of the acquisition in light of the Competition Commission report. Rank expects to make a further announcement shortly.
