Malaysian Gambling Giant takes big stake in rank
3rd December, 2007
Rank, which owns top bingo and casino clubs including Gala Bingo and the Grosvenor chain has been hit hard by the UK smoking ban which has seen attendance at bingo halls fall dramatically. This combined with high taxes has seen their profits slump.
Gentling is already big in the UK it bought Stanley leisure clubs in 2006 for over $1 billion.
Rumours of take overs have been rife since Rank announced poor profits in the last 2 quarters.
Rank are rumoured to have declined an offer by Harrah to swop the UK casinos for a 28% stake in Rank. Other firms rumoured to have an interest in Rank are Ladbrokes and BIL (a Singapore company).
Shares in Rank Group have risen by almost 40% in the last fortnight and were up to 115p this morning.
