The Rank Group has announced it has agreed to sell the Clermont Club, its upmarket casino in Mayfair, London, to BIL Gaming, a subsidiary of BIL International, for a cash consideration of £31.0m.
The sale of the Clermont, which is the only upmarket casino in Rank’s Grosvenor Casino division, comes after the company announced a review of it operations under Ian Burke, its new chief executive, increasing speculation that it is to break up its business.
Last month the company announced it was carrying out a strategic review of its Hard Rock Café chain, which is expected to lead to a sale.
The company has also sold the UK division of its Deluxe Media Services subsidiary that copies compact discs.
It is believed that the company is looking to concentrate purely on its gaming division.
Burke said: “The sale of the Clermont Club is in line with our strategy of focusing on the mainstream gaming market, where we believe there is most to gain from changes to UK gambling.”
Earlier this month, UBS, the investment bank, upgraded its recommendation on the company’s stock to “buy” from “neutral”.
UBS said: “We believe that Rank has been undergoing a significant restructuring since the appointment of Ian Burke as new chief executive in March.
This process is being implemented quietly with Burke’s first significant presentation to the City due to take place at the interim results on 1 September.”
UBS believes that the company will announce the sale of its Hard Rock Café business on this date.
