Competition Commission gives provisional clearance to merger of Littlewoods and Vernons Pools

Aug 31 2007 by Tony McDonough, Liverpool Daily Post

A MERGER between the UK’s two main football pools operators - Liverpool-based Littlewoods and Vernons - now looks almost certain to go ahead after it was given provisional clearance by the Competition Commission.

In April, Littlewoods operator Sportech announced it was in discussions with Vernons owner Ladbrokes about a possible acquisition of the brand.

Sportech chief executive Ian Penrose believes combining the two operations would give football pools a better chance of long-term survival.

Since the launch of the National Lottery in 1994, the number of people playing the pools has plummeted although there are still around 750,000 people playing every week.

The decision by the Office of Fair Trading to refer the deal to the Competition Commission caused anger within Sportech and it is estimated going through the process could cost the company up to £1m.

Should the deal go through around 120 Vernons staff would probably relocate to Sportech’s headquarters in Walton from their current home in Aintree, a site which also houses Ladbrokes’ successful telephone betting operation.

The Commission’s final decision is expected to be announced in October.

See Saturday’s Daily Post for more details.