STANLEY Leisure's headquarters will remain in Liverpool even if a proposed merger with a rival London-based casino operator goes ahead, the Daily Post can reveal.
Stanley this week confirmed it was in talks with London Clubs International (LCI) over a possible tie-up that could be worth more than £700m.
Chairman Lord Steinberg set up the company, now the UK's biggest casino operator, in Liverpool in 1958 but it was feared the merger could lead to the head office being relocated from Liverpool city centre to London.
However, a Stanley source told the Daily Post yesterday: "It is unlikely the headquarters of the enlarged group would be too far from where Stanley is based now."
The firm employs hundreds of people in Liverpool although this has been reduced following the sale last year of its betting shop chain to William Hill for £504m.
A merger between Stanley and LCI has been on the cards since the shake-up of gaming laws paved the way for international operators to run new super-casinos proposed by the Government.
The companies said the merger would involve the exchange of one new Stanley share for every six LCI shares.
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