British casino and bingo operator Gala has bought Coral Eurobet, the bookmaker and internet gaming group, for £2.2 billion.
A statement from Gala said the enlarged company would be valued at more than £4 billion. It would have also 1,450 outlets across Britain, a workforce of 17,000 and boast more than 2.2 million customers.
The enlarged group would meanwhile be Britain's third largest bookmaker with 1,267 licensed betting offices, the country's biggest bingo operator with 167 clubs and a leading operator of casinos with 30 outlets.
The transaction is backed by private equity groups Candover, Cinven and Permira, which are all joint owners of Gala. Each of the three investment groups is increasing its stake by £275m to help finance the acquisition.
