Rank/Gala Merger Report
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The Rank Group Plc/Gala Coral Group A report on the anticipated acquisition by The Rank Group Plc of Gala Casinos Limited 19 February 2013 Competition Commission 2013 Website: www.competition-commission.org.uk Members of the Competition Commission who conducted this inquiry Martin Cave (Chairman of the Group) John Cubbin Peter Jones Richard Taylor Chief Executive and Secretary of the Competition Commission David Saunders The Competition Commission has excluded from this published version of the final report information which the Inquiry Group considers should be excluded having regard to the three considerations set out in section 244 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (specified information: considerations relevant to disclosure). The omissions are indicated by []. Some numbers have been replaced by a range. These are shown in square brackets. Contents Page Summary .............................................................................................................................. 3 Findings ................................................................................................................................ 8 1. The reference ................................................................................................................... 8 2. The companies ................................................................................................................. 8 The Rank Group Plc ......................................................................................................... 8 Guoco Group Ltd .............................................................................................................. 9 Gala Casinos Limited ....................................................................................................... 9 3. The merger and the relevant merger situation .................................................................. 9 Outline of merger situation ............................................................................................... 9 The rationale for the merger ........................................................................................... 10 Jurisdiction ..................................................................................................................... 10 Enterprises ceasing to be distinct .............................................................................. 10 Turnover or share of supply tests .............................................................................. 11 4. Industry background ....................................................................................................... 11 Market structure ............................................................................................................. 12 Regulation ...................................................................................................................... 13 The Gambling Commission ....................................................................................... 13 Licensing .................................................................................................................. 14 5. Market definition ............................................................................................................. 14 Product market ............................................................................................................... 14 Other gambling venues ............................................................................................. 16 Online gambling ........................................................................................................ 17 Other leisure venues ................................................................................................. 19 Conclusion on the product market ............................................................................. 21 Geographic market ......................................................................................................... 21 Conclusion on the geographic market ....................................................................... 22 Conclusion on market definition ...................................................................................... 22 6. Counterfactual ................................................................................................................ 22 7. Assessment of the competitive effects of the merger ...................................................... 23 Pre-merger competition .................................................................................................. 24 How casinos compete ............................................................................................... 24 Assessment of elements of the casino offer where competition may take place on a national basis ...................................................................................................... 29 Effect of the merger ........................................................................................................ 32 Impact of the merger on local competition between operating casinos ...................... 32 Potential competition ................................................................................................. 67 The impact of the merger on coordination ................................................................. 75 Impact of the merger on foreclosure ......................................................................... 76 Other competitive constraints which might offset the effect of the merger....................... 78 Market entry/expansion ............................................................................................. 78 Other competitive constraints .................................................................................... 78 Summary of findings on competitive effects .................................................................... 79 Conclusions on the SLC test .......................................................................................... 80 8. Remedies ....................................................................................................................... 80 Remedy options ............................................................................................................. 80 Assessment of remedy options ....................................................................................... 82 Full prohibition .......................................................................................................... 82 Partial prohibition ...................................................................................................... 82 Upfront buyer remedy ............................................................................................... 86 Additional remedy option for Edinburgh proposed by the parties: divestiture of the Edinburgh cold licence............................................................................................ 88 Behavioural remedies ............................................................................................... 93 1 Summary of the effectiveness of the remedy options ................................................ 93 Cost of remedies and proportionality .............................................................................. 93 Four local areas excluding Edinburgh ....................................................................... 94 Edinburgh ................................................................................................................. 94 Relevant customer benefits ............................................................................................ 95 Decision on remedies ..................................................................................................... 96 Appendices A. Terms of reference and conduct of the inquiry B. Background on the industry and the parties C. Consumer surveys D. National effects E. Maps and additional information on competition in local areas of concern F. Background on 2005 Act licences, cold licences and the merger parties’ plans for their cold licences G. Quantitative assessment of the effects of local competition H. Regulatory background I. Entry and expansion J. Purchaser suitability and evidence requirements for the Edinburgh cold licence Glossary 2 Summary 1. On 20 August 2012, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) referred to the Competition Commission (CC) for investigation and report the anticipated acquisition by The Rank Group Plc (Rank) of Gala Casinos Limited (Gala). The CC must publish its report under section 39 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (the Act) by 20 February 20131 on the questions: (a) whether arrangements are in progress or contemplation which, if carried into effect, will result in the creation of a relevant merger situation; and (b) if so, whether the creation of that situation may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition (SLC) within any market or markets in the UK for goods or services. 2. Rank and Gala both operate casinos in the UK.2 In May 2012, Rank agreed to acquire 100 per cent of the shares in Gala and the proposed acquisition was approved by Rank’s shareholders in July 2012. The proposed acquisition includes 23 bricks-and-mortar casinos3 in Great Britain and three cold licences.4 Gala’s casinos in Gibraltar and Dundee, a cold licence in London (Westminster) and other activities operated by Gala Coral Group Limited (Gala Coral) (including its online casino business)