Grosvenor/ Gala deal off??

[Discostu]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9488466/Ranks-plans-to-buy-Gala-Coral-referred-to-Competition-Commission.html

The surprise decision to refer the £205m deal to the Competition Commission is expected to stall talks for six months. Analysts warned the deal, which it was thought could have gone through as soon as next month, could now be de-railed altogether.
The OFT said it was concerned that the takeover would “substantially” reduce competition nationally and in nine local areas.
Rank operates 34 casinos in the UK under brands including Grosvenor and GCasino. Gala operates 23 casinos, most of which operate under the Gala brand. The acquisition would take Rank’s share of the number of British casinos from 25pc to 44pc. At the moment, Genting has the largest number with 28pc of the market.
Ali Nikpay, the OFT director who made the decision, said: “This merger would represent a major consolidation which could be expected to reduce competition, both locally and nationally. The high barriers to entry and expansion in the casino sector mean the loss of competition could potentially be irreversible.”
The OFT noted Rank’s offer to “provide undertakings” to reduce the dominance of the combination but said they were “not considered sufficiently clear-cut to address all of the concerns raised by this merger”.

[doubleup]

Think this is a complete waste of time, someone should take these idiots round a few bookies and show them the the thousands of fobts - then introduce them to the internet and show them the hundreds of online casinos.  There is no shortage whatsoever of competition for punters' money.

[The Camel]

Think this is a complete waste of time, someone should take these idiots round a few bookies and show them the the thousands of fobts - then introduce them to the internet and show them the hundreds of online casinos.  There is no shortage whatsoever of competition for punters' money.

Went to a trotting meeting tonight, more for the beer than the sport.

The bookies were betting to 250% on the races but there was no shortage of punters trying to get bets on. If they had any idea of value or betfair they would have stayed in the beer tent.

There will always be plenty of punters who don't trust machines or the internet.

200 mill for 32 casinos seems like pretty good business to me.

[atdc21]

the monopoly/competition commission is there to protect the punter/individual no matter what the 'business' is. People would soon moan if one company bought all of one type of business and then had a free reign with no competition to do just as they pleased. The free drinks , bonus pots, money added to comps, and all the other 'freebies' fickle punters like to have would be that much easier to do away with.

[relaedgc]

Meh.

[The Camel]

the monopoly/competition commission is there to protect the punter/individual no matter what the 'business' is. People would soon moan if one company bought all of one type of business and then had a free reign with no competition to do just as they pleased. The free drinks , bonus pots, money added to comps, and all the other 'freebies' fickle punters like to have would be that much easier to do away with.

Disagree.

There will always be freebies in the casino business.

Holland Casinos run all the legal casinos in the Netherlands and they still comp drinks, dinner for players.

Punters like to feel appreciated and special.

[atdc21]

maybe there will always be freebies in the poker business, but giving one person/company sole running of anything must and will make it easier for them to do what they want.
as a side, i can remember a few casinos that use to put on free buffet in break , even in their smallest midweek comps, cant think of one now, also free drinks machines have long gone and some you can only get free soft drinks whilst playing table games.

[Aek203]

the monopoly/competition commission is there to protect the punter/individual no matter what the 'business' is. People would soon moan if one company bought all of one type of business and then had a free reign with no competition to do just as they pleased. The free drinks , bonus pots, money added to comps, and all the other 'freebies' fickle punters like to have would be that much easier to do away with.

Disagree.

There will always be freebies in the casino business.

Holland Casinos run all the legal casinos in the Netherlands and they still comp drinks, dinner for players.

Punters like to feel appreciated and special.

You've not been to an Australian casino I'd guess.

[Tal]

Played the last comp at Gala Birmingham on Saturday.

[  ] They paid down to 15.

[SteveF]

Was this the comp I played with you Tal?

[Tal]

Was this the comp I played with you Tal?

Unbe-rubbing-lievable