Currently Gala Bingo is a part of the Gala Coral group, which also owns a large chain of high street betting shops and casinos across the UK. However, Gala Bingo may be on its way to becoming a stand alone company as part of a restructuring planned by its lenders the Royal Bank of Scotland. As reported by The Observer the lenders have approached potential bidders who would like to buy the company.

The report in the Observer states that the bank has been actively seeking investors without first consulting Gala Coral. RBS heading the negotiation with shareholders stated: “The Company needs to address its debt burden and is considering a number of options to raise cash.” However Gala Bingo representatives told The Observer: “We are not looking to sell off assets or break up the group. We have £200m on the balance sheet and we are not seeking an equity injection.”

The main shareholders in Gala Coral are in the process of restructuring their loans with a variety of banks but have a £80 million loan to repay in September and a further £150 million next year. In total they have debt of £2.7 billion of debt. Recent reports show that growth at the Gala Bingo website has slowed significantly in the past one year and potential buyers are concerned at its ability to market itself as a leading player in the online gaming world especially with the steady growth of other rival sites. In addtion, the Group is also fighting a multi million tax reclaim with the Government but the recent change in gross profits tax is now having an increased burden on the Group with an extra 7 percent tax being taken of their bingo income.

Gala Coral are the UK’s largest bingo chain with a dedicated online bingo site registered in Alderney.

Written for www.londonbingo.co.uk  by Irene

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