LONDON, July 25 (Reuters) - Bookmakers Ladbrokes andGala Coral must sell around 350 to 400 shops in order to obtainclearance for their proposed merger, Britain's competitionregulator said on Tuesday.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said that atie-up between Britain's second and third largest bookmakers maygive rise to competition issues in 642 local areas.
The CMA said the sales must be substantially completedbefore the merger can go ahead.
Ladbrokes agreed the terms of a 2.3 billion pound ($3.01billion) all-share merger with Coral in July last year, andshareholders backed the deal in November.
The combined group will overtake market leader William Hill.($1 = 0.7631 pounds) (Reporting by James Davey; editing by Sarah Young)
Rank (RNK)