Labroke eyes Texas

Ladbroke, the betting and hotels group, has confirmed that it is in talks with the Rank Organisation over the sale of some of its Texas Homecare sites, writes Nigel Cope.

The deal involves about 12 former Texas DIY stores that have been vacated in favour of larger outlets. Rank is believed to be interested in turning some into bingo halls.

Ladbroke said the talks were not relevant to other negotiations taking place over the Texas stores still trading. Sainsbury's, which owns the Homebase DIY stores, is still tipped as the bidder for up to 80 sites.