Ladbrokes
It has been the big will they or won’t they story of 2011 so far and now we finally have our answer - they won’t!
The potential takeover of 888 by Ladbrokes has now been completely put to bed after Ladbrokes made an official statement this morning. Although no official reason was provided by the bookmaker and operator of Ladbrokes online casino, some have suggested that it can surely be no coincidence that 888’s CEO Gigi Levy announced his departure at the weekend.
Talks first began back in December and have kept going despite a number of setbacks, including 888 disappointingly low trading figures in the last quarter of 2010. Following this morning’s news, it has been reported that these figures have certainly suffered with shares falling by almost 10% already.
Richard Glynn, CEO of Ladbrokes, said: “I simply decided it was not in the interests of shareholders.”
However, Glynn did confirm that the company would continue to look for new opportunities to expand but that they would be careful in selecting new partners.
