Ladbrokes shelves business review as Coral talks continue

Ladbrokes has postponed the planned presentation of new CEO Jim Mullen’s (pictured) business review until “further notice”, as the operator remains locked in negotiations over a potential mega-merger deal with Gala Coral.

In a statement released to the market this morning, Ladbrokes said the unveiling of Mullen’s new strategy, which was scheduled to take place tomorrow (30 June), would no longer be held due to current merger discussions.

Last week Mullen confirmed Ladbrokes was in talks with Gala Coral over a potential combination which would create a digital business with annual revenues of approximately £400m, catapulting it into the top-tier of UK-facing online operators.

“Further to the announcement on 23rd June discussions between Ladbrokes and the board of Gala Coral Group about a possible merger of Ladbrokes and Coral Retail, Eurobet Retail and Gala Coral’s online businesses to create an enlarged business are ongoing,” this morning’s statement read.

“In the light of this the Ladbrokes business review presentation scheduled for Tuesday 30th June will be deferred until further notice,” it added.

Mullen succeeded Richard Glynn as chief executive on 1 April and immediately conducted a root and branch review of the business, which last week resulted in the departure of international director Damian Cope and the remainder of his international team placed at risk of redundancy.

Mullen had been expected to offer more detail on how he planned to re-build Ladbrokes’ flagging digital business tomorrow, having previously told eGR of his intention to make major changes at the operator.