THE long-tunning saga over the sale of the state-owned bookmaker The Tote should be resolved soon.

The government has set a deadline of September 28 for the consortium of investors in the horse racing industry to put forward its bid, meeting the £400m price tag.

Should the consortium - which comprises the Racehorse Association, the Racecourse Owners Association and Tote management and staff - fail in its bid, it is expected that the business would be sold on the open market.

Multi-millionaire Salford betting tycoon Fred Done, who is considering floating his BetFred empire, is understood to be monitoring the situation very closely.

A source said: "Fred never rules anything out. He has asked Rothschilds to carry out a strategic review of the business and if they advise him to bid for the Tote, he will."

Mr Done, 62, will be further encouraged by reports that the consortium, which is backed by Lloyds TSB, may struggle to raise the funds for the deal as a result of the ongoing global trauma in financial markets.



The government pledged to sell the Tote to the racing industry in 2001, but an attempted sale in 2005 was blocked by the European Commission, which said the price was so low that it constituted state aid.

Following the Commission ruling, the government had the Tote valued by business advisers PricewaterhouseCoopers at a reported price of about £400m and invited offers.

The government and the consortium have been wrangling for months. Changes in Labour party leadership have held up the process, while the government has voiced objections about the level of funding provided by Lloyds and its level of control on the proposed Tote board.

The Tote was set up in 1928 and comprises 540 high street betting shops, 59 betting shops on race courses and the pool betting system.

Its Wigan headquarters was opened in 1989 by Tory cabinet minister Douglas Hurd. Around 750 people work at the head office and a call centre there.

Some racing industry players have questioned whether the Tote would be able to meet its mandate of investing in racing if its new owner were burdened by heavy interest payments after funding the deal with debt.

Europe's biggest gambling firm, Gala Coral, has offered to pay £405m, but the government has pledged to sell the Tote to the industry. Tweet