This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/business-13640042
The article has changed 11 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Betfred wins auction for Tote with £265m deal | Betfred wins auction for Tote with £265m deal |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| UK-based bookmaker Betfred has been chosen to buy the Tote after an auction process that began in November. | UK-based bookmaker Betfred has been chosen to buy the Tote after an auction process that began in November. |
| Betfred, the country's fourth-biggest bookmaker, will pay £265m for the business. | Betfred, the country's fourth-biggest bookmaker, will pay £265m for the business. |
| The sale is subject to consultation with the Tote's employees and is expected to be completed in about four to eight week' time. | The sale is subject to consultation with the Tote's employees and is expected to be completed in about four to eight week' time. |
| The Tote has 517 High Street shops and the monopoly to run pool betting online and at 60 UK racecourses. | The Tote has 517 High Street shops and the monopoly to run pool betting online and at 60 UK racecourses. |
| The sale agreement signals the end of a 14-year attempt by governments to privatise the betting group, which employs more than 3,500 staff. | |
| Betfred's main rival in the auction was Sport Investments Partners (SIP), a consortium led by the British Airways chairman Martin Broughton. | |
| The Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt said: "It was a closely fought contest. | |
| "Of the £265m in the headline price only just over £90m will end up being paid to the Treasury." | |
| 'Good deal' | |
| As part of the deal, Betfred will keep exclusive control of the pool betting system on UK racecourses for seven years. | |
| In return, it has committed to paying the racing industry £11m to March 2012, with payments of £9m a year for the next six years of the licence. | |
| Pool betting differs from that offered by other bookmakers. | |
| The Tote takes a percentage of stake money placed. Of this percentage, some is used to cover the Tote's expenses while the rest goes to the racing industry. | |
| The rest of the stake money is paid out to winners. | |
| The gambling and racing minister, John Penrose, said the government had "bent over backwards to deliver a good deal for racing". | |
| He added: "Most people can't understand why, in the modern world, the government should be even part owner of a bookie. So we pledged last year to end years of dithering and resolve the future of the Tote, and today we have done just that." | |
| The Tote was set up 83 years ago by Winston Churchill to provide a safe haven for punters, as it was controlled by the state and beyond the reach of illegal bookmakers. |