Independent, The (London): Hilton buys Welsh betting chain for pounds 76m

Two siblings who inherited their family business, Jack Brown Bookmakers, have scooped pounds 76m from selling it to Ladbrokes, part of the Hilton Group.

Gary Brown and his sister, Jacqueline Jones, who jointly own the company, announced yesterday they had sold the business which was started by and named after their grandfather in 1927. After Jack Brown stepped down, his son took over, later passing it on to his children Gary, 45, and Jacqueline, 52. It has 141 shops, of which 127 are in Wales and the remainder in Birmingham, and employs 520 people.

Mr Brown said: 'The betting business has been run by our family for over 78 years, so it was important we found the right partner for our sale.' He believes Ladbrokes will bring further development to the business, although about 70 jobs in Jack Brown's head office in Pontypridd are under threat, as Ladbrokes plans to close it.

The takeover will see the end of the Jack Brown logo, with all the shops being rebranded as Ladbrokes over the next six months.

The most recent accounts filed for Jack Brown at Companies House are for the year ending 31 March 2004 and show it had a pounds 170m turnover, but pre-tax profits were just pounds 533,505. Mr Brown and Mrs Jones awarded themselves salaries of more than pounds 2m.

Talks to acquire the business have been ongoing for more than a year, although Ladbrokes is likely to have been spurred on to complete the deal after the recent purchase of Stanley Leisure's betting shops by its arch-rival William Hill. The acquisition put William Hill ahead of Ladbrokes for the first time in terms of shop numbers, and Ladbrokes has been keen to regain the top position. Adding Jack Brown's outlets dramatically increases Ladbrokes's presence in Wales, taking it up to 156 shops. Its UK total is now 2,111. William Hill has 2,174.

Ladbrokes plans to spend about pounds 12m on refurbishing the stores, installing a Ladbrokes television channel that provides more opportunities to bet, and hi-tech electronic point-of-sale equipment. Betting shops have become highly profitable premises for bookmakers after the introduction of fixed- odds betting terminals, virtual roulette machines that keep punters entertained between races. Ladbrokes expects the Jack Brown business to make a pounds 4m contribution to earnings in the second half.