Bookmakers Ladbrokes PLC and Gala Coral Group Ltd. may have to sell around 350 to 400 betting shops for their merger to be conditionally approved, the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority said in a statement Friday. The regulator said its investigation had found “659 local areas where it provisionally found that the merger may be expected to result in a substantial loss of competition.” The two bookmakers agreed last year to merge in a deal worth about 2.3 billion pounds ($3.35 billion). Ladbrokes has 2,154 betting offices in the U.K., while Coral runs 1,850, making them the second- and third-biggest betting store operators in the country. The CMA has asked for responses to these provisional findings, including whether requiring the bookmakers to sell off stores would be a suitable remedy. It said, “the CMA is minded to require any divestiture, were that to be a suitable remedy, to be substantially completed before the merger can go ahead.” Ladbrokes shares jumped 10% after the CMA news.
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