Bingo and casino operator Gala has announced its £2.18bn takeover of Coral Eurobet, which will make Gala the UK’s largest bingo operator – with 167 clubs – and third largest bookmaker, with 1,267 licensed betting offices. Gala’s three equal private equity owners, Candover, Cinven and Permira, each invested £275m to help finance the deal, which means the group is the UK’s largest private equity-owned business. Gala now has an enterprise value of more than £4bn and more than 2.2 million active customers. Should the company decide to float on the London Stock Exchange – which it is expected to do within the next two years – it could be worth up to £5bn. Neil Goulden, Gala chief executive, said: “This is the perfect time to merge Gala and Coral Eurobet as both companies seek to take maximum advantage of the deregulation of the gaming market.” Vaughan Ashdown, chief executive of Coral Eurobet – who will stay on at the enlarged company and join the Gala Group board, added: “The combination of two of britain’s top private equity-backed businesses has been three years in the planning and I am personally delighted to have achieved the best consolidation opportunity in the industry.” Coral Eurobet was established in 1926 and bought by Charterhouse Capital for £860m in 2002. Details: www.galagroup.co.uk