Merger Update

3 May 2007 12:00

Office of Fair Trading03 May 2007 Merger Reference: The OFT has decided, on the information currently available to it, to refer thefollowing merger to the Competition Commission under the provisions of theEnterprise Act 2002: Anticipated acquisition by Sportech plc of the Vernons Football Pools Businessfrom Ladbrokes plc The text of this decision will be placed on the Office of Fair Trading's website at www.oft.gov.uk as soon as is reasonably practicable. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange