Multimillion pound acquisition strengthens scottish bookmakers

Scotland’s largest independent bookmakers, has acquired 13 Scottish outlets from an Irish counterpart in a £2m deal funded by Clydesdale Bank.

All outlets associated with Sean Graham’s Scotland division have been acquired by Morrisons Bookmakers and as a result Sean Graham’s will focus on its significant Irish Operations both North and South.

Established in 1961 by Kenny Waugh Snr, Morrisons soon established itself as one of Scotland’s leading bookmakers.  In 2005 Kenneth Waugh took over the reins of the business from his father and the firm now boasts more than 70 outlets throughout Scotland, an annual turnover in excess of £60m and a workforce of almost 300.

“To be able to acquire Sean Graham’s entire Scottish portfolio was a great opportunity for us and fits perfectly with our existing units” said Kenneth Waugh.

“This acquisition builds upon our development strategy to grow to around 100 units by early next year and has allowed us to expand our brand across the country.  As part of this deal we were also able to bring all 68 staff employed by Sean Graham into the Morrisons fold which in turn strengthens our already experienced customer-facing teams.”

Lynne McKay, corporate partner at Clydesdale Bank’s Financial Solutions Centre in Edinburgh, said that Morrisons had been a long standing customer of the bank and that this acquisition was a strategic step forward for the company, added:

“Morrisons is one of the most recognised bookmakers in Scotland, and this multimillion pound acquisition has helped the company to realise, in part, its growth strategy.

“Supporting local businesses – from nurturing and supporting their ambitions, to raising finance and helping them to meet growth plans – is something that we’re fully committed to and we recognise the value that supporting companies like Morrisons brings.”

Chris Deery, general manager at Sean Graham concluded:

"The sale of our shops to Morrisons sees the transfer of all our staff who have been very loyal to us over our 16 years in Scotland. They will be a real asset to Morrisons in the development of their shop estate and we wish them, and all our staff, the very best for the future".