Horse racing

Ladbrokes Coral has recruited a general counsel (GC) for the newly merged business with the hire of SuperGroup legal chief Lindsay Beardsell.

Beardsell, who will join Ladbrokes Coral in 2017, is currently group GC and company secretary at SuperGroup, the company behind clothing brand SuperDry.

Ladbrokes and Gala Coral this week confirmed the completion of their merger deal. The companies' respective GCs, Annabel Bannerman and Harry Willits, will aid in the transitional period once Beardsell arrives in the new year.

However, it is unclear whether the two GCs will remain at the company once the legal teams are fully combined. The in-house legal team will have around 10 lawyers in it.

Slaughter and May advised Ladbrokes on the merger, with the magic circle firm's corporate head, Andy Ryde, leading the team. Slaughters is the company's main legal adviser. Ashurst represented Gala Coral on the tie-up, led by London managing partner Simon Beddow.

Before her three years at SuperGroup, Beardsell was head of legal at Gazprom Energy, and has also worked in-house at utility companies including Centrica, United Utilities and British Gas. She is also a former associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.