Ladbrokes and Coral move closer towards merger

The merger between Coral and Ladbrokes took another significant step towards completion in the autumn when the competition watchdog on Tuesday confirmed the two companies must sell 350 to 400 betting shops to gain clearance for the deal.

A report from the Competition And Markets Authority (CMA) identified 642 local areas where it expected the £2 billion-plus merger would result in a substantial lessening of competition, slightly down from the 659 mentioned in its provisional findings released in May.

As many of the problematic local areas overlap, the sale of a betting shop in one local area may also remedy concerns in an overlapping area.