Neither side is saying much, but reports out of the United Kingdom indicate that the Rank Group has joined the bidding to purchase Coral Eurobet.
The company behind the Hard Rock Café brand and Mecca casinos reportedly bid more then £800 million for the betting shop chain last week.
Suzanne Bartch, a spokeswoman for Rank, told IGN that the company couldn't comment on the reports or any plans to buy Eurobet or any other company.
According to a report in The Observer, though, a deal could be announced as early as this week. If Rank wins the bidding for the 850-betting-shop operation, which also has an extensive online and interactive bookmaking unit, it would be a coup for Rank's top executive Mike Smith.
Four years ago, Smith was in charge of the Coral group when it was part of Ladbrokes. Now the CEO of Rank, Smith was given high praise for his management of Coral after he cut the company's debts from more than £1 billion to about £200 million.
Smith had been with Ladbrokes as a director for years prior to the forced spin-off of Coral by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission. When Ladbrokes sold Coral to Morgan Grenfell Private Equity for nearly £400 million, Smith was brought on to head the unit.
Rank has been aggressive in the gaming market in the last year. The company launched HardRockCasino.com in June, which is a regulated online casino based on the Isle of Man. The site doesn't offer sports betting, and the acquisition of Coral would fit nicely into the Rank group of gaming operations.
The purchase of Coral would also go along with Smith's public goal for Rank. During his tenure, he has divested the company of a large number of its non-gaming business operations by selling off a chain of cinemas and pubs and holiday camps. He has stated to analysts that a low-cost base will give Rank the ideal position and financial wherewithal to move farther into the gaming sector, an area he sees as ripe for expansion.
Rank has plans to build 10 Hard Rock Cafés throughout Europe by the end of 2003 at a total cost of £30 million. Smith has said that the company would also like to extend the brand into the hotel and casino industry.
But Rank isn't alone in wanting to acquire Coral. Other suitors include venture capitalists Candover and bookmakers Stanley Leisure and Done Brothers, the United Kingdom's largest independent bookmaker.
Officials with Coral didn't respond to messages left by IGN regarding possible buyers.