Betfred is the winning bidder for the Tote
3 June 2011
UK-based bookie Betfred has been selected to purchase the Tote after an auction process that started in November.
BBC company editor Robert Peston said Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt had chosen Betfred although the bet9ja's welcome offer had actually not been completed, with some technicalities still being sorted out.
The price is not yet known but Betfred is thought to have bid about ₤ 200m.
Half of the charge will go to the racing industry and racing charities, and the majority of the rest will go to the government.
The racing industry may be disappointed, due to the fact that it was understood to have chosen the rival bid from SIP, a consortium led by British Airways chairman Martin Broughton.
Successive governments have actually been trying to privatise the Tote for about 14 years, however have never come this promotion code close to doing so.
The federal government is hoping that the offer will not fall foul of EU state aid guidelines or be overturned by a judicial review.
Jockey opposition
The Tote was set up 83 years ago to provide a safe house for punters, controlled by the state, and beyond the reach of unlawful bookmakers.
It delights in a monopoly of horse race pool-betting in exchange for a guarantee that money was pumped back into the sport.
The Tote is based in Wigan, with more than 4,000 staff, and presently injects half its profits into racing.
In 2015, Chancellor George Osborne guaranteed to secure value for taxpayers while recognising the support the Tote provided to the yohaig code market.
The Tote offered practically ₤ 19m to horse racing in 2010.
Efforts over the past 3 years to sell the Tote struck issues, and the government faces getting a lower rate than the ₤ 400m mooted in 2007.
The Jockey Club opposes the sale and wants the Tote to remain independent.
The Tote has 517 High Street betting stores and the monopoly to run pool betting online and at 60 racecourses in the UK.
