  The coalescence of supermassive black hole binaries occurs via the emission
of gravitational waves, that can impart a substantial recoil to the merged
black hole. We consider the energy dissipation, that results if the recoiling
black hole is surrounded by a thin circumbinary disc. Our results differ
significantly from those of previous investigations. We show analytically that
the dominant source of energy is often potential energy, released as gas in the
outer disc attempts to circularize at smaller radii. Thus, dimensional
estimates, that include only the kinetic energy gained by the disc gas,
underestimate the real energy loss. This underestimate can exceed an order of
magnitude, if the recoil is directed close to the disc plane. We use three
dimensional Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) simulations and two dimensional
finite difference simulations to verify our analytic estimates. We also compute
the bolometric light curve, which is found to vary strongly depending upon the
kick angle. A prompt emission signature due to this mechanism may be observable
for low mass (10^6 Solar mass) black holes whose recoil velocities exceed about
1000 km/s. Emission at earlier times can mainly result from the response of the
disc to the loss of mass, as the black holes merge. We derive analytically the
condition for this to happen.
