SOURCE: www.thisismoney.co.uk

(London, England) — Ladbrokes' £470m takeover of online gaming firm 888 Holdings was thrown into further doubt by the Budget.

The two companies have been in on-off talks for months, with 888 looking for a strong parent to shelter it from massive legal problems in the US where internet gambling has effectively been criminalised.

But tax rules announced yesterday give it little incentive to leave its Gibraltar base.

The Government is to offer a 15 percent tax rate to offshore gaming operators in an attempt to encourage them to move to the UK.

Analysts say this is simply too high to be attractive.

Mark Summerfield of KPMG said: "Why would they do it?"

"They clearly can't get a legal opinion that would allow them to leave the litigation behind and they'd have to start paying 15 percent tax."