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Ladbrokes Ladbrokes has acquired the Eastwood chain of 54 betting shops in Northern Ireland for £117m. 08-Feb-2008 Ladbrokes is planning to expand its betting call centre in Aintree, once the Vernons Pools business is transferred to Walton by new owner Sportech. 13-Nov-2007 Ladbrokes has acquired Sponsio, the online betting company operating in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland, for an initial £36m. 22-Jan-2007 Ladbrokes has acquired North West Bookmakers, the chain of 16 betting shops with 60 staff in Northern Ireland. 05-Oct-2006 Hilton is to invest £15m introducing new digital broadcasting technology in its 1,900-strong chain of Ladbrokes betting shops. 13-May-2002 BSkyB and Ladbrokes have called off plans to create an interactive betting joint venture, citing commercial reasons and the referral of the project to the Competition Commission. 17-Oct-2001 Hilton's Ladbroke division is planning to move into the Swedish betting market, which is currently run by a state-owned monopoly, by applying for a local gaming licence. 16-Aug-2001 Hilton's Ladbrokes division is to create up to 1,000 jobs in preparation for the introduction of tax-free betting in October, involving a £40m investment in its 1,900 high street betting shops and the creation of 40 betting superstores. 23-Jul-2001 BSkyB is forming an interactive betting joint venture with Ladbrokes, which will enable viewers to place bets using their TV remote-control devices. 13-Jul-2001 Ladbroke is to close its betting shop administration centre in Gloucester, and about 12 staff will be offered jobs at other sites. 25-Sep-2000 BSkyB is considering plans to develop online and TV betting services in partnership with Ladbroke. 31-Mar-2000 Ladbroke is launching two new internet betting sites, as part of a £100m investment that will enable people to bet through interactive TV and mobile phones. 15-Feb-2000 Ladbroke is planning to set up a tax-free telephone and internet betting operation in Gibraltar. 13-Aug-1999 Ladbroke has put 13 of its 91 hotels up for sale following its takeover of Stakis, and has also announced the sale of the Detroit Racecourse for £18m. 15-May-1999 Ladbroke is to change its name to Hilton Group to reflect the increasing emphasis on its hotels business, although the betting shops will retain the Ladbroke name. 27-Mar-1999 Ladbroke is planning to relaunch its Easy Play football-based National Lottery game as sales are below expectations. 04-Mar-1999 Ladbroke is set to acquire Stakis for about £1.16bn, which will give it an extra 54 hotels, 22 casinos and 67 health clubs, and the Stakis head office in Glasgow is likely to close. 09-Feb-1999 Stakis has received a takeover approach from Ladbrokes, and it could result in a bid of more than £1bn for the hotels and casinos group. 06-Feb-1999 Morgan Grenfell Private Equity has acquired the Coral chain of betting shops from Ladbroke for £390m, but Ladbroke will retain 50 shops in Ireland, eight in Jersey and Coral's 5% stake in Satellite Information Services. 23-Dec-1998 Ladbroke is said to be considering plans to build a 250-bed Hilton International hotel in Leeds, and it is looking at a number of potential sites. 23-Oct-1998 Ladbroke has been blocked by the government in its attempt to merge with Coral, and will be required to sell all 833 Coral betting shops within six months. 24-Sep-1998 Ladbroke is to launch an interactive betting service on the internet within a few months, the first major bookmaker to do so. 26-Aug-1998 Hilton Hotels Corporation is planning to separate its hotels and casinos businesses, which raises the possibility of a merger with Ladbrokes, the operator of Hilton hotels outside the US. 02-Jul-1998 Ladbroke is planning to launch an international chain of mid-market hotels through its Hilton International division, and the first will be opened in Sao Paolo, Brazil. 26-Jun-1998 A group of MPs has commissioned a report that claims that Ladbroke's takeover of the Coral bookmaking chain, which has been referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, will reduce competition, put punters at a disadvantage, and give Ladbroke a dominant share of the betting market. 03-Jun-1998 Ladbroke has terminated negotiations to acquire a controlling stake in Karos, the South African hotel group, and will now look for other ways to expand its hotel network in the region. 27-Apr-1998 Ladbroke's £363m takeover of the Coral betting shop chain has been referred to the Monopolies & Mergers Commission, and a decision is due on July 7. 01-Apr-1998 Ladbroke has reached agreement with Camelot to set up a rival lottery game based on football results and operated through National Lottery terminals, and has made an application to regulators. 06-Mar-1998 Ladbroke is said to have been dropped from the shortlist to acquire the Inter-Continental Hotels and Resorts chain, as the US investment bank advising on the sale has warned that UK stock exchange rules would slow down the process. 14-Feb-1998 Ladbroke is to cut 200 jobs at the Vernons pools head office in Liverpool, and will focus the business on games played by telephone or post instead of those involving door-to-door visits. 05-Feb-1998 Ladbroke has acquired the Coral betting shop chain from Bass for £375m, including 833 UK betting shops and the telephone and on-course betting businesses, and Ladbroke hopes to overcome potential objections from the Office of Fair Trading by selling 128 shops to Tote Bookmakers. 02-Jan-1998 Ladbroke is selling its Hyde Park Plaza hotel in London to Regent Corporation for £44m. 06-Nov-1997 Ladbroke has started discussions to sell some of its £1.4bn of hotel freeholds in order to fund the expansion of its Hilton International hotels. 29-Aug-1997 Camelot has failed in its attempt to win a court ruling that 49s, the rival lottery-based game operated by William Hill, Ladbroke and Coral, was illegal. 19-Aug-1997 Ladbroke has won a licence to open a fifth casino in London, at the St Giles hotel near Tottenham Court Road, and is now rumoured to be considering a bid for Capital Corporation, the rival casino operator. 12-Aug-1997 Ladbroke is acquiring Colorado Gaming and Entertainment, which runs three casinos in Denver, for £21m, as part of its strategy to build up its US gaming business. 22-Jul-1997 Ladbroke is looking to sell eight UK hotels, with an average of 100 rooms and with a book value of £90m. 09-Jul-1997 Camelot is launching a private prosecution against three bookmakers, Coral, William Hill and Ladbrokes, that are said to be running the 49s game in competition to the National Lottery. 26-Apr-1997 Ladbroke is to close its property division and sell £50m of assets, in order to reduce debt. 05-Mar-1997 Ladbroke has acquired AR Dennis, the chain of 114 betting shops in the south-east, for £31m. 04-Feb-1997 Ladbroke is moving into the fast-growing market for spread-betting with a new service which will require customers to open an account and make bets over the telephone. 18-Jan-1997 Ladbroke and Hilton Hotels have agreed a plan to reunite the Hilton hotel brand worldwide, in a deal which will see Hilton Hotels acquire an initial 5% of Ladbroke. 14-Jan-1997 Ladbroke has formed an alliance with Hilton Hotels of the US to jointly develop the Hilton hotel brand around the world, in a move that also allows the two companies to buy stakes in each other. 30-Aug-1996 Ladbroke is in discussions with Hilton Hotels of the US to jointly develop the Hilton brand around the world. 10-May-1996 Ladbroke is investing in Two Way TV, the interactive broadcaster which allows the public to compete in TV quiz shows, and may expand the service to provide interactive betting. 16-Apr-1996 Ladbroke continues to dispose of its commercial property portfolio with the sale of two office and retail developments in the Strand, London, and two other properties. 30-Mar-1996 Ladbroke has acquired London's Barracuda casino from Stakis for £27m, conditional on the successful acquisition of licences from the authorities. 09-Feb-1996 Ladbroke is in discussions to buy London's Barracuda casino from Stakis. 30-Jan-1996 Ladbroke has put London's Langham Hilton hotel on the market. 16-Oct-1995 The information on this page comes from the UK Activity Report. 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