Morrisons snaps up rival bookies

Published on Monday 10 March 2008 09:34

MORRISONS, Scotland's biggest independent chain of bookmakers, has clinched a £2 million takeover deal that will edge it closer to its target of 100 sites by early next year.

The Edinburgh-based bookie, which is run by pub tycoon Kenny Waugh, has snapped up the Scottish operation of well-known Irish counterpart Sean Graham, triggering the latter's retreat from Scotland.

And he plans to splash out around 1m more to upgrade the shops, or possibly relocate to the kind of bigger premises Mr Waugh believes is increasingly needed to compete with the majors such as William Hill and Ladbrokes.

Adding the 13 outlets – including three in Edinburgh – will take Morrisons' estate up to 72 shops, while the addition of Sean Graham's 68 staff will take the group's payroll above 350.

Mr Waugh said he'd been on the lookout for more shops for the past couple of years so when the opportunity came up to strike an off-market deal for the Graham outlets, he acted.

"To be able to acquire Sean Graham's entire Scottish portfolio was a great opportunity for us and fits perfectly with our existing units," said Mr Waugh, who took over the running of the 60m turnover Morrisons business in 2005 from his father, former Hibs chairman Kenny Waugh senior, who had established the bookmaking chain in 1961.

"This acquisition builds upon our development strategy to grow to around 100 units by early next year and has allowed us to expand our brand across the country," he said.

"As part of this deal we were also able to bring all 68 staff employed by Sean Graham into the Morrisons fold, which in turn strengthens our already experienced customer-facing teams."

He added: "We're also going to be spending a bit of money on the new shops."

Morrisons, along with Festival Inns – home to The Three Sisters, Hudson Hotel and Royal Ettrick Hotel, is part of the Polwarth-based Festival Group.

Mr Waugh said he was confident a 100-strong bookie estate could be in place in little over a year, with some organic expansion coupled with more acquisitions.

Clydesdale Bank – which helped Mr Waugh set up his Festival Inns operation in 1997 – funded the buyout of the Belfast-based group's Scottish operation.

Lynne McKay, corporate partner at Clydesdale's financial solutions centre in Edinburgh, said the acquisition represented a strategic step forward for Morrisons.

"Morrisons is one of the most recognised bookmakers in Scotland, and this multi-million pound acquisition has helped the company to realise, in part, its growth strategy."

Sean Graham's general manager Chris Deery said: "The sale of our shops to Morrisons sees the transfer of all our staff, who have been very loyal to us over our 16 years in Scotland.

"They will be a real asset to Morrisons in the development of their shop estate and we wish them, and all our staff, the very best for the future."