CMA accedes the amalgamation of gaming giants, GVC Holdings and Ladbrokes Coral Group

The UK’s Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) today (Wednesday) acceded a proposed amalgamation of GVC Holdings, a sports betting and gaming company and Ladbrokes Coral Group,  another betting company based in London.With the intention of incorporating the two businesses, GVC agreed to purchase Ladbrokes Coral in a deal worth up to £4bn (€4.58bn/$5.63bn) in December 2017.

Moreover, GVC has moved a step closer to consummating the merger earlier this month as its shareholders overwhelmingly voted in favour of the deal, which still requires  clearance from the CMA.

Having carried out a scrutiny on the proposed collaboration, the CMA has now ruled that the deal “does not give rise to competition concerns” and has granted approval to the acquisition agreement.

The CMA said in a statement that: “GVC has a small presence in the UK and only offers services online.”

The CMA has found that GVC and Ladbrokes are not close rivals and there are many other providers of betting and gaming services online. The CMA looked closely at betting services for individual sports and individual games but found that, in all cases, there will be enough rivals to the merged entity to prevent price increases or a reduced quality of service as a result of the merger. The merger will therefore not be referred for an in-depth investigation.

GVC and Ladbrokes Coral is looking forward to complete the merger prior to the end of March.