Gala Bingo to be bought by Caledonia Investments

The UK's largest High Street bingo operator, Gala, is being taken over by investment trust Caledonia for £241m.

Gala Bingo operates 130 bingo clubs with 1.1 million members and claims 38% of the UK retail bingo market.

The move is the latest in a series of ownership changes in the betting sector this year.

Gala Coral, Gala Bingo's parent company, is itself in the process of being bought by rival betting business Ladbrokes.

Gala said the sale of the clubs would help to pave the way for the deal, which is subject to approval by regulators.

Other tie-ups in the sector this year include Betfair and Paddy Power, and online firm 888 with rival Bwin.

Gala Coral will keep ownership of the online bingo website, galabingo.com.

Gala Coral has been owned by a number of private equity firms, including Apollo Global Management, Cerberus Capital Management, Anchorage Capital Partners and Park Square Capital, since 2010 when it was struggling with £2.5bn of debt.