Ladbrokes shares steady despite Dermot Desmond’s late call to scrap plans to buy Gala Coral

Shares traded in Ladbrokes changed little in London yesterday, suggesting that an 11th-hour intervention by stakeholder Dermot Desmond calling for it to scupper plans to buy rival bookie Gala Coral will continue to fall on deaf ears.

Shareholders also backed its £2.3bn (€3.13bn) tie-up with Gala Coral.

It is a deal that Ladbrokes hopes will give it the clout to make a bigger splash online where it has been out-gunned by rivals.