Bookmaker Betfred Wins Tote Bid for 265m

03rd June, 2011

Bookmaker Betfred Wins Tote Bid for 265m

Bookmaker Betfred has won the bid for Tote against rivals Sport Investment Partners in a deal worth £265m.

As exclusively revealed by Sky News City Editor Mark Kleinman, Betfred has officially beaten off the SIP consortium's bid. Betfred will make an initial payment for Tote of £150m, with £115m in deferred payments.

That values the Tote at £265m, a higher sum than had originally been anticipated.

This comes less than a year after the Chancellor announced the Government’s intention to resolve the future of the Tote, and follows numerous failed attempts to do so in the past.

The deal means that racing will benefit from payments of more than £155m as a result of this deal.

The horse racing industry will receive over £90m as their 50% share of net proceeds from the sale.

In addition to that, Betfred has committed to making commercial payments to racing of £11mn to March 2012 and an expected £9mn.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "It was a closely fought contest which has ended up giving the Tote business and the racing industry the certainty they have been looking for.

"This deal has been carefully calculated to make sure that the interests of racing, Tote employees and the Tote Pension Fund were given the greatest possible weight."

Betfred is also committing to retaining the Tote brand on the pool and has said that it will not sell the pool business within three years.

As part of the sale process Betfred will receive a seven year licence to operate Pool betting operations on all UK racecourses.

The Betfred deal means Tote employees will have assurances on jobs and an end to many years of uncertainty.

The Tote was set up 83 years ago to provide racecourse punters with alternatives to illegal bookmakers and ensure money went back into the sport.

It is based in Wigan, with more than 4,000 staff, and currently injects half its profits into racing.