Gala cut debts

THE future of Gala Coral, Britain's biggest bingo operator, is understood to have been secured this weekend after its lenders agreed to a refinancing deal that will ease its debt from £2.6 billion to £1.85bn.

Control of the group, which also owns 1,650 betting shops in the UK, will pass to a consortium of "mezzanine" lenders including Apollo Management, Cerberus Capital Management, Goldman Sachs and Park Square Capital. Apollo has become the operator's principal shareholder with around 25 per cent.