The Competition and Markets Authority has said bookmakers Ladbrokes and Gala Coral must sell 350-400 shops in order to clear their £2.3bn merger.
The CMA identified 642 local areas where it said the merger would hit competition.
Ladbrokes has around 2,150 shops in Britain and 77 in Northern Ireland. Coral has around 1,850 shops in Britain.
The merger would make it the UK’s largest bookmaker.
On 25 June, William Hill was approached by competing gambling companies 888 and Rank Group about a merger.
Martin Cave, chair of the CMA’s inquiry, said: “Although online betting has grown substantially in recent years, the evidence we’ve seen confirms that a significant proportion of customers still choose to bet in shops – and many will continue to do so after the merger. We therefore believe that a sale of shops of this scale is needed to protect these customers.”
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