Ladbrokes agree sale of Italian Retail business

12 APRIL 2010

LADBROKES AGREES SALE OF ITALIAN RETAIL BUSINESS

Ladbrokes plc announces it has agreed to sell its Italian retail betting and gaming business to an affiliate of Cogetech S.p.A ("the buyer"), a key player in the Italian betting and gaming market. The expected cash consideration is €5.25 million1 payable on completion. Cogetech will also assume responsibility for approximately €18m of guarantees currently provided by Ladbrokes plc. In 2009 the Italian retail business made a loss of £9.9 million and at 31 December 2009 the carrying value of the business was £26.7 million. The sale is subject to Italian competition authority approval.

As a result of entering into the sale agreement the buyer has agreed to acquire the entire Ladbrokes Italian retail business consisting of its head office in Milan, 82 shops and 51 corners located throughout Italy.

Ladbrokes took the decision to exit the Italian retail market in August 2009 due to revenue growth being below expectations, increased competition in the market place, and the high level of further investment required to achieve critical mass.

For further information contact:

Ladbrokes Head of PR

Ciaran O'Brien + 44 07976 180173

Ladbrokes Head of Investor Relations

Kate Postans +44 07855 335013

Notes

1 The net cash consideration payable is subject to adjustment based on the actual net financial position of the Italian retail business at the time of completion of the sale (taking into account the working capital and liabilities position). Any proceeds will be used to pay down debt.

About COGETECH

Cogetech S.p.A., with offices in Milan and Rome, is a market leader in the Italian online and landbased gaming industry. Established in 2004, Cogetech S.p.A. is one of the top players in the regulated gaming market in Italy, one of the top three markets in Europe. The company has more than 38,000 AWPs in 16,000 points of sale, operates sports betting and online poker facilities and also provides commercial and e-payment services.

About Ladbrokes

Formed in 1886, Ladbrokes plc is a world leader in the betting and gaming market. In 2009 it took £15 billion in stakes with group revenues of over £1 billion. Benefiting from its brand strength the company offers an all-embracing range of betting and gaming services supported by 15,000 employees and state of the art technology. Ladbrokes delivers its services via three key distribution channels - retail, online and telephone. It has a market-leading retail presence in the UK, Ireland, Belgium and the Madrid region of Spain with over 2,700 retail outlets. Ladbrokes.com offers a comprehensive range of betting and gaming opportunities in 18 languages and 18 currencies and its high quality telephone betting service handles over 5 million calls a year. www.ladbrokesplc.com