Gala Buys Club 2000 For £18m

Gala Group, which operates 166 UK bingo clubs and 28 casinos in the UK, has bought New Generation Bingo for £18m – its largest investment in a bingo site to date.

New Generation owns and operates Basingstoke's Club 2000 – a purpose built 25,000sq ft (2,300sq m) bingo club, which last year attracted around 250,000 players.

Gala is optimistic about imminent changes to gambling legislation, which will end the requirement for members to register 24 hours before playing at a bingo club.

Neil Goulden, Chief Executive, said: "This is a terrific opportunity for Gala to expand its operations in the region and tap further into one of the nation’s favourite pastimes."

The deal comes amid speculation that Gala is considering listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) within the next six months, following the recent success of online gambling company PartyGaming, which was valued at £4.6bn in its first week of trading.