Ladbrokes Punts £76m On Purchase Of Welsh Bookmaker
The founding family behind Jack Brown, the Welsh chain of bookmakers, was celebrating a £76 million windfall last night after selling its company to Ladbrokes, the Hilton-owned betting company.
The deal follows more than a year of talks between Ladbrokes and the Brown family, led by Gary Brown, managing director. Mr Brown and his sister Jacqueline are thought to own the entire equity in Jack Brown (Bookmaker) Ltd, which is based in Pontypridd and has 141 shops across Wales.
The Jack Brown acquisition will boost Ladbrokes's number of outlets in the UK to 2,111.
However, the deal will be insufficient for Ladbrokes to wrestle back the crown of the UK's biggest betting firm — lost two months ago to William Hill after it pounced on Stanley Leisure's betting shops in a £504 million deal. The addition of Stanleybet outlets boosted William Hill's portfolio to 2,174.
Chris Bell, Ladbrokes's chief executive, said that the Jack Brown chain had a "great and promising future". Ladbrokes plans to invest £12 million over the next 18 months to convert and modernise the outlets.
Ladbrokes expects Jack Brown to make £8 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) this year. Ebitda should increase to at least £13 million by the completion of the refurbishment. By contrast, Ladbrokes's UK shops reported a £215.3 million profit last year on turnover of £8.5 billion.
Mr Brown said in a statement: "The betting business has been run by our family for over 78 years, so it was important that we found the right partner for our sale. We know that Ladbrokes will ensure the business has a bright future."
It remains unclear what the Brown family plans to do with the sale proceeds.
The business was set up by Jack Brown in the 1920s. The founder subsequently handed control to his son Desmond, who was well-known among the Welsh horse racing industry. Gary, Jack's grandson, took over the business after Desmond's death in 2002.
Hilton's shares eased ¾p to 289¼p.
