7th Feb 2008 07:01
Ladbrokes PLC07 February 2008 LADBROKES PLC ACQUIRES EASTWOOD BOOKMAKERS Ladbrokes plc has acquired Eastwood Bookmakers, Northern Ireland's largestbookmaker, for a consideration of £117.5 million. The acquisition is expectedto generate EBITDA of approximately £11 million in the first 12 months ofLadbrokes' ownership, with good growth forecast for the next 2 years asrebranding takes effect. Following today's acquisition of the 54 Eastwood shops, Ladbrokes will have 70shops throughout Northern Ireland, which include the 16 shops it acquired in2006 from Northwest Bookmakers. Ladbrokes' market share represents 23% of thetotal number of betting shops in Northern Ireland, where strict application ofthe demand test criteria has kept betting shop numbers relatively stable formany years. Unlike the rest of the UK the demand test criteria for betting shoplicences still applies in Northern Ireland. Ladbrokes is already the largest bookmaker in the Republic of Ireland where itoperates 201 shops. In total Ladbrokes now operates 271 shops throughoutIreland. BJ Eastwood and Frances Eastwood established Eastwood Bookmakers in the 1950sand developed the business to become Northern Ireland's best-known familybookmaker. Of the acquired shops, 30 are located in and around Belfast with theremaining shops spread throughout Northern Ireland. The acquisition alsoincludes Eastwood telephone betting business. Commenting on the acquisition, Alan Ross, Managing Director Ladbrokes EuropeanRetail said: "Today's acquisition of Eastwood establishes Ladbrokes as the biggest bookmakerin Northern Ireland. We bought our first shops in Northern Ireland in 2006 andour 16 shops have performed exceptionally well as customers respond to the widerproduct range, increased opening hours and refurbishments. We aim to repeatthis success with Eastwood in the coming years." -ends- For further information contact: Head of Public Relations Head of Investor Relations Ciaran O'Brien Julian Arlett Tel: + 44 (0) 7976 180 173 Tel: +44 (0) 7976 348 913 Note to Editor: Eastwood Bookmakers was owned by BJ Eastwood and Frances Eastwood. In the yearto 31 March 2007 the business recorded a profit of £7m. Ladbrokes plc employs over 14,000 people in the UK, Ireland, Belgium, Italy,Spain, Sweden, Jersey, Gibraltar and Asia. The company comprises Ladbrokes, theworld's biggest bookmaker and operator of Europe's leading telephone bettingoperation and Ladbrokes.com, the leading betting and gaming website which hascustomers in over 200 countries around the world. Ladbrokes is implementingits strategy for international expansion by opening shops in Italy and is alsoplanning to open shops in Spain, starting with Madrid later this year. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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