Ladbrokes Overcomes Investor Hurdle To Merger

Ladbrokes (LSE: LAD.L - news) shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a £2.3bn merger with rival Gala Coral, despite opposition from one high-profile investor.

At a general meeting in London to vote on the tie-up, the holders of 96.36% of Ladbrokes stock backed the deal - which was first revealed in the summe r.

The vote followed a further attack on both the board and management by billionaire businessman Dermot Desmond, who described the company's performance over the past five years as "abysmal", according to a tweet from the Racing Post.

The tycoon, who owns the majority of Celtic Football Club, told the paper he would continue his attempts to block the merger despite the result of the shareholder vote.

A deal would create the UK's largest gambling firm with 4,000 shops, though it could be forced to sell some to allay any competition concerns.

They would also continue to trade under their own brands.

The result of the vote suggests Mr Desmond, who was said by a spokesman to own a "substantial" holding, owns less than 4% of Ladbrokes stock - given the result of the vote.

He had written to shareholders in advance, urging them to reject the merger and seek a new management team to lead a shift to online.

He said then: "Giving away half your company and taking on over £800m of debt is a very expensive way to recruit a quality management team.

"The real winners in this transaction are the Coral shareholders."

In August, Ladbrokes reported a £51.4m loss for the first half of 2015 after dozens of shop closures in the UK and Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) . It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) said earnings were hit by a "need to reset the business and invest".

Chief executive Jim Mullen admitted that "short-term thinking had come to dominate Ladbrokes' actions" but insisted new targets over the next couple of years would help it improve.