Gala Bingo chief resigns - Online Bingo News

The chief of Gala Coral, the parent company of online bingo site Gala Bingo  has stepped down to take a new assignment outside the bingo industry. Managing director of the bingo and casino division, Simon Longbottom, has resigned from his position and has been temporarily replaced by Mark Sergeant.

Mr. Sergeant was the Group Gaming Director of Gala Coral since July 2009, prior to which he was the Commercial Director of Gala Gaming Division since June 2008. According to industry insiders, his temporary position as Managing Director will, in all probability, turn into a permanent one very soon. Gala Coral are yet to release the news officially via a press release.

According to the Times, Mr. Longbottom has indicated that his next assignment will not be within the bingo industry and a mention was made of a position in the pub industry. Gala Coral have said that his departure is completely unrelated to the company’s growing woes of debt.

The company is hoping to complete the refinancing by the year end though the situation has been complicated by US private equity group Blackstone who have offered to invest £300 million in return for a sizeable equity stake; reports of the equity stake vary from 40% to 60%.

Gala Coral is said to be in debt of an excess of a staggering £2.5 billion and has been focussing on restructuring the debt to make it more manageable. What adds to the complexity is that Gala Coral has over 200 investors, further complicating the restructuring process.

According to industry experts, other bidders are expected to emerge with alternative plans for the debt for equity restructuring, given Blackstone’s interest in Gala Coral; the assumption being, if the US private equity group deems the company ‘investment worthy’, then perhaps Gala Coral might offer opportunities for others.

Written by Anna Richards for Bingostreet – bringing you daily news on UK bingo.