Ladbrokes CFO to depart as merger nears completion
Announcement that Ian Bull will leave in February hints at agreed merger with Gala Coral completing soon
Ladbrokes this morning announced CFO Ian Bull will leave the company in February as its proposed merger with Gala Coral nears completion.
When Ladbrokes and Gala Coral announced their intention to merge in July, it was agreed that Coral’s CFO Paul Bowtell would become finance director for the combined business.
And the news Bull will depart at the end of February, shortly after Ladbrokes’ full year results are announced, suggests the firm is now confident the merger will proceed, despite concerns that it may be held up by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
According to Ladbrokes and Gala Coral, an estimated date for completion of the merger depends on the CMA verdict, with December touted as a best case scenario and mid-2016 listed as a “scenario B” outcome.
Both Ladbrokes and Coral say they have been working closely with the CMA, with the authority likely to instruct the merged firm to sell off between 400 and 1,100 of their combined 4,073 retail shops.
But by announcing Bull’s departure now, and including a provision that he would “leave shortly after completion” in the event that a deal is struck before February, it appears the firms are confident the issues with the CMA will be ironed out.
“Ian has worked tirelessly through what have been challenging times and has helped steer Ladbrokes to this exciting point in its journey,” Ladbrokes chairman Peter Erskine said.
“We are pursuing an aggressive organic plan to build a stronger Ladbrokes as well as working on the proposed merger with the Coral Group, which will create a leading betting and gaming business and deliver substantial synergies,” he added.
Erskine added that Bull has informed the board that he wished to leave Ladbrokes on completion of the annual accounts in order to pursue other opportunities.