Betfred is the Winning Bidder for the Tote
Betfred is the winning bidder for the Tote
3 June 2011
UK-based bookmaker Betfred has been selected to purchase the Tote after an auction procedure that began in November.
BBC organization editor Robert Peston said Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt had selected Betfred although the offer had not been completed, with some technicalities still being arranged out.
The price is not yet known but Betfred is believed to have actually bid about ₤ 200m.
Half of the charge will go to the racing market and racing charities, and the majority of the rest will go to the government.
The racing market may be dissatisfied, since it was understood to have actually preferred the rival quote from SIP, a consortium led by British Airways chairman Martin Broughton.
Successive federal governments have actually been attempting to privatise the Tote for about 14 years, however have never come this near to doing so.
The federal government is hoping that the offer will not fall foul of EU state aid guidelines or be reversed by a judicial review.
Jockey opposition
The Tote was set up 83 years ago to provide a safe house for punters, managed by the state, and beyond the reach of illegal 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 personnel, and currently injects half its earnings into racing.
Last year, Chancellor George Osborne guaranteed to protect value for taxpayers while acknowledging the support the Tote provided to the market.
The Tote gave nearly ₤ 19m to horse racing in 2010.
Efforts over the previous three years to offer off the Tote hit issues, and the federal government deals with getting a lower cost than the ₤ 400m mooted in 2007.
Betfred is the winning bidder for the Tote
3 June 2011
UK-based bookmaker Betfred has been selected to purchase the Tote after an auction procedure that began in November.
BBC organization editor Robert Peston said Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt had selected Betfred although the offer had not been completed, with some technicalities still being arranged out.
The price is not yet known but Betfred is believed to have actually bid about ₤ 200m.
Half of the charge will go to the racing market and racing charities, and the majority of the rest will go to the government.
The racing market may be dissatisfied, since it was understood to have actually preferred the rival quote from SIP, a consortium led by British Airways chairman Martin Broughton.
Successive federal governments have actually been attempting to privatise the Tote for about 14 years, however have never come this near to doing so.
The federal government is hoping that the offer will not fall foul of EU state aid guidelines or be reversed by a judicial review.
Jockey opposition
The Tote was set up 83 years ago to provide a safe house for punters, managed by the state, and beyond the reach of illegal 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 personnel, and currently injects half its earnings into racing.
Last year, Chancellor George Osborne guaranteed to protect value for taxpayers while acknowledging the support the Tote provided to the market.
The Tote gave nearly ₤ 19m to horse racing in 2010.
Efforts over the previous three years to offer off the Tote hit issues, and the federal government deals with getting a lower cost than the ₤ 400m mooted in 2007.