I'm not sure what the minimum requirements will be be for Emerald as I joined them by default, with the merger.
If the requirements stay the same as they did with Streamline then minimum hours and the rating will do. Having said that if there are more qualified people in the pool then they will probably get the first look in.
I joined a few years ago with only 40 hours multi and moved to the LHS after 6 months.
The type rating then could be completed for around £2500 but thanks to JAR the hours have increased and so too the cost, it's not the various companies trying to rip off people that has been mentioned before.
The experience you will get is well worth the cost of the type rating and the chance to build up hours quickly.
Before you commit to a company try to find some of it's crews and have a chat, you may not like the lifestyle that the job creates.
Best of Luck.