8th Jan 2007 08:00
Ladbrokes PLC08 January 2007 LADBROKES SIGNS JV WITH CIRSA SLOT TO TARGET SPANISH MARKET Ladbrokes and Cirsa Slot Corporation SL have established a 50:50 joint venturecompany (JV) to develop a sports betting business in Spain. The JV will combine Ladbrokes, the world's biggest bookmaker, with operations inthe UK, Ireland, Belgium and Italy with Cirsa Slot, the leading slot machinecompany in Spain. Cirsa Slot accounts for 9% of the Spanish slot machinemarket, servicing over 15,000 food and beverage outlets with gaming areas and 90arcades. The company is a division of CIRSA Corporation, which owns andoperates casinos, arcades and bingo halls throughout the country. The JV company will apply for the new betting licences being offered in Madridwhere a new decree was passed in December 2006 regulating dedicated bettingshops, non-dedicated betting kiosks (bars, arcades and bingo halls) and remotebetting (telephone and Internet) for the first time. Applications for thelicences, which initially last five years, but are renewable, will be submittedto the Madrid regional government when requested, likely to be by mid-January. The JV will also work to secure betting licences in other areas of Spain thatare also considering regulating betting for the first time. Several of theother 16 regions of Spain are believed to be actively considering similarbetting regulation. The Spanish gambling market was worth around €29bn lastyear.* Christopher Bell, Chief Executive of Ladbrokes plc commented: "This representsanother major step forward in our international aspirations. In December weopened our first shops in Italy and successfully tendered for new licences. Nowwe have formed a JV with a market leader in Spain that gives us access to anetwork of thousands of potential site operators. As soon as regulation allowswe are confident that the combination of Ladbrokes' vast experience andexpertise in betting and the local knowledge and operational capability of Cirsawill build a strong business in Spain." Pablo Alcala, Director of Cirsa Slot commented: "Sports betting is set to becomean increasingly mainstream activity in Spain and we believe that this JointVenture builds on the strengths of both companies - Ladbrokes with over 100years experience in betting and Cirsa with its massive presence in the Spanishmarket." *** For further information contact: Head of Public Relations Head of Investor RelationsCiaran O'Brien Julian ArlettTel: +44 (0) 7976 180 173 +44 (0) 7976 348 913 Press Officer Investor Relations AnalystDavid Williams Paul BagstaffTel: +44 (0) 7976 180 236 +44 (0) 7976 348 922 *Figure from Media Entertainment Consulting Network 2006 report Notes to editors: Free to use imagery of Ladbrokes shops and executives is available atwww.vismedia.co.uk in the Ladbrokes section or at www.ladbrokesplc.com in themedia centre. About Cirsa Corporation CIRSA Corporation, with 16,000 employees owns 22 traditional Casinos, 100Arcades, 73 Electronic Casinos, near 100 Bingo halls and more than 85,000 slotmachines in the restaurant/food-industry and in casinos worldwide. In Spain itprovides daily service and support to more than 25,000 outlets and is anindustry leader in terms of service and expertise. It has a presence in 70countries and has invested more than 45 million Euros in R&D in the last threeyears. About Ladbrokes plc Ladbrokes plc employs 14,000 people in the UK, Ireland, Belgium and Italy. Thecompany is comprised of Ladbrokes, the world's biggest bookmaker and operator ofone of Europe's leading telephone betting operations; Ladbrokes.com, the leadingbetting and gaming website; Vernons, the football pools company and LadbrokesCasinos which opened the Ladbrokes Casino and Sports Bar in Paddington in July2006. Ladbrokes.com has customers in 200 countries around the world, and has astrategy for international expansion that includes a consultancy partnership inChina, and a planned 100 million Euro investment to establish a business inItaly. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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