It is beginning to seem that a day would not be newsworthy if no mention of another approach to the Rank Group (Mecca Bingo) had been made.
This time it is a private equity firm, Duke Street, who have made an offer to the Rank board for the purchase of the bingo sector of the group. It was reported by the Sunday Times that Duke Street Capital have written to the Rank Group Chief Executive, in an attempt to make a bid for the bingo business.
It is thought however that the Board of Rank is not interested to pursue a deal for their Mecca Bingo business with Duke Street and at present no talks are taking place. Neither Rank nor Duke Street were available to make comment.
Mecca Bingo has 102 bingo clubs countrywide and it appears that the smoking ban and the new Gambling Act, together with the removal of high value jackpot machines, caught Mecca Bingo unawares, affected their profits badly, which caused a steep drop in trading, with Rank recently announcing that it would not be paying out a full-year dividend nor making any investments in capital projects.
