GVC completes acquisition of the Ladbrokes Coral Group

British gaming giant GVC Holdings completes the acquisition of Ladbrokes Coral. Started in 2018, the below acquisition accounts for one of the biggest in the history of the industry. with this new acquisition, GVC is therefore given full control over all brands and in-house technologies developed by Ladbrokes coral.

This includes brands like Ladbrokes Casino, Gala Spins, Gala Casino, and Gala Bingo. With the present deal, GVC aims to achieve annual synergies of up to €150 million by 2022.

A great achievement amid the troubling times

Despite the current restrictive conditions caused by the economic and social lockdown due to the covid19 pandemic, the official signing of the deal and the transfer of ownership rights have been completed without a significant delay. Coming second to only Flutter Entertainment and The Stars Group merger, the €4.5 billion deal between GVC and Ladbrokes Coral is one for the history books.

Using both parties’ desire to reach a common agreement as soon as possible, to give room to the technical process that consists of the back-office integrations.

According to the words of the Chief Operating Officer of GVC Holdings, Mr. Shay Segev, the first phase which is also one of the most complex has already been completed. This phase consists of transferring all IT data from Ladbrokes Coral's servers, into GVC's patented platforms and technologies.

Also included in this first phase is the migration of the customers. This means, transferring the data of more than 12.5 million players currently active in casinos, sportsbooks, and bingo brands under the management of the Ladbrokes into GVCs designated platforms.

This addition has doubled the number of active players of the brands owned by GVC, which is now estimated at around 25 million.

Planning for a safer future.

Given the current situation of the global economy, and the huge sums involved in the deal with Ladbrokes Coral, GVC made sure to keep the many partners and shareholders of the company well informed. Firstly, to report on the company's current financial status, and the strategies in place. Secondly, to give clear insights on the future goals and objectives of the corporation.

Among the various points addressed by GVC, the company's managing board emphasized that the addition of 12.5 million players will contribute to the establishment of greater stability, efficiency, and execution speed. Particularly when launching new Pay N Play Casinos, or other verticals that can be directly promoted to the large database of existing players from established brands under GVC's control.

Greater adaptability to markets and regulation changes are among the most important advantages that come with the new deal. The company also plans on investing in product development projects, to guarantee a high degree of flexibility in customer acquisition. This could mean partnering with payment solution provider companies like Trustly, to launch no account casinos in the Dutch market, or other big European hot spots such as Finland, Sweden, and German.

GVC confirmed its ambition to continue the company expansion with additional mergers and acquisitions in the future.

Positive results despite a Rocky Q1.

Despite the decrease in revenue registered in late March, GVC's income chart stayed green throughout the first quarter of 2020. The company reported a 1% increase in net gaming revenue year-over-year. An increase mostly due to the spike of activities in the online gaming sector which is currently riding at a 16% increase rate year-over-year.