According to a report in the Financial Times, bingo and casino operator Gala Group is preparing for an initial public offering, which could peg the company’s value at 1.8 billion pounds. Gala has allegedly met with a number of banks, in pursuit of potential financial advisers. The rumored IPO is expected to take place either late this year, or early the next.

The UK Gambling Bill was a major catalyst influencing the decision to consider a flotation on the stock exchange. When scaling down initial plans from opening eight "super casinos," to opening just one, the government essentially reduced competition for UK gambling companies and bingo operators, such as Gala. This helped pave the way for major maneuvers like Gala's planned IPO. In addition to reducing competition, the Gambling Bill will allow bingo halls to offer larger prize pots.

Gala is not the first gaming company to flirt with floatation. A number of other gaming operators, including PartyGaming, online casino 888.com, Betfair and the IG Index are also rumored to be in the market for an IPO.