Betfred to lay out the details of £200m offer for Tote bookmaker
ONE OF the bidders for the Tote bookmaker will unveil details of its offer this morning, in an attempt to convince stakeholders of its suitability.
Bookmaker Betfred will announce today that it will bid almost £200m for the government-owned betting chain, and will earmark an additional £11m payment this year for the racing industry, a person close to the deal confirmed last night.
This subsidy will remain in place for several years afterwards, but will fall in value slightly in subsequent years.
The value of the bid is still around half the price tag put on Tote by the Labour government when it tried and failed to sell off the firm several times throughout the lifetime of the government.
Other contenders to take over Tote from the public purse include Sir Martin Broughton’s Sports Investment Partners, which is reportedly making a joint offer with two former Ladbrokes executives and broker Cenkos.
The rival consortium was given the blessing of racing industry leaders last week, prompting Betfred’s announcement.