Rank ‘set for £250m Gala Coral bid’

The move would see Rank create the UK’s biggest casino operator by merging its 35-strong Grosvenor Casinos chain with the 24 outlets owned by Gala.

Talks are thought to be at an advanced stage and could be completed in time for Rank’s interim results on February 9.

Such an acquisition would accelerate Rank’s plans to have 45 Grosvenor outlets by the end of 2015 through the faster roll-out of its G-Casino format, which attracts a younger, less formal crowd.

The business, which employs more than 3,000 people, has all but four of its casinos outside London. It has four Yorkshire casinos in Leeds, Sheffield, Huddersfield and Scarborough.

A sale of the casinos would allow Gala Coral to concentrate on its Gala bingo and Coral bookmaking divisions, as well as strengthen its finances amid a net debt figure of £1.3bn at the end of 2011.

The company has been seen as ripe for a break-up since a big debt restructuring in 2010.