Gaming operator Rank has been told it may have to sell several UK casinos before a merger deal with rival Gala can go ahead.
The Competition Commission said Rank's deal to buy 23 casinos could reduce competition in Aberdeen, Liverpool, Stockton-on-Tees, Bristol and Cardiff, as well as in Edinburgh, where it has the licence to develop a new casino.
The planned acquisition of the 23 sites by the Mecca Bingo owner would see it leapfrog Malaysian firm Genting as the UK's biggest player, giving Rank's Grosvenor casino arm 57 sites.
The Commission fears the loss of one of the UK's three major casino operators could mean customers in several areas may lose out.
Inquiry chairman Martin Cave said: "We have found that casinos vary their offer in response to local competitive conditions and while there is limited scope to compete on price, casinos try to attract customers through customer service, promotions, events and the range of games available."
The Commission will publish its final report on February 20, when its other sanctions could include blocking the whole deal altogether.
Rank said in October that discussions were ongoing over changes to the previously agreed terms of the £205 million deal, following the referral to the Competition Commission by the Office of Fair Trading.
The majority of Rank's casinos are outside London, with the company focused on the faster roll-out of its G Casino format, which attracts a younger, less formal crowd.
The Rank business employs more than 3500 staff.
Rank is listed on the London Stock Exchange but is majority owned by Guoco, the investment vehicle of Malaysian billionaire Quek Leng Chan.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article