Gala Coral split

The news about online bingo today seems to be rife about the rumoured / proposed Gala Coral split as the name behind Gala Bingo struggle to meet repayments to its leading lender, Royal Bank of Scotland. The Guardian today that the Gala Coral group have until September to find a staggering £80m and then another £150 million in 2010. The debt repayment could see parts of the Gala Coral group being sold to several smaller investors in order to raise the money owed.

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Like most financial stories that we cover on Gamble.co.uk, our interest sparked with regard to the affect such a split could have on the online bingo site, Gala Bingo. As with many acquisitions of this type, whoever the buyer, it is unlikely that we are to see any changes to how Gala Bingo online performs for the online bingo player.

The debt of Gala Coral, as with many other land based bingo halls, can be attributed to the double taxation levied against the industry and the introduction of the smoking ban. We have seen many land based bingo halls owned by the Gala Coral group close their doors and with events recently proving that the Government is very unlikely to change its stance on the tax we are sure to see many more closing soon.

Gala Bingo online has to be one of the best known names when it comes to internet bingo and with great bingo promotions, the biggest selection of bingo rooms and impressive bingo games it may be that the growth of the online business can sustain the land based side of Gala Coral but for how long?

29th July 2009