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 Chris Cook |
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| There are plenty
of runners and riders in the bid to buy the Tote but no clear favourite
There are believed to be considerably more live contenders in the race to buy the Tote than there will be in tomorrow's King George VI Chase at Kempton where eight horses will line up against Kauto Star. There is no formal list of runners but there has been constant speculation, and even a little betting on the outcome, since September, when John Penrose, the minister responsible for gambling, launched a process to "set a value" for the firm, which has a monopoly on pool betting in Britain. A deadline for expressions of interest passed in mid-December and the government is understood to be taking time to identify a select number of candidates who will be invited to make a formal bid. A person with knowledge of the process suggested that this stage would be reached "in the next few weeks". Yesterday's news that Tote Direct bets from some offshore firms would be routed through Alderney rather than Britain should have the effect of making the business more profitable and more attractive to a potential buyer, though the sale is not thought likely to generate more than £250m, substantially less than the £400m which the business was thought to be worth as recently as 2007. The biggest firms in Britain, Ladbrokes and William Hill, which have themselves moved parts of their business offshore in recent years, are ruled out of contention on competition grounds. Ed Pownall, a spokesman for the online bookmaker Bodog, admits that his employer has taken a risk in offering odds on who will eventually succeed in buying the Tote but said yesterday that he would be delighted to take bets from someone with a bit of inside knowledge. "If I saw any interesting money, it would make my day," he joked. "I'm looking out for accounts being opened by people with DCMS email addresses." Trading has not been massive, he says, with most bets in the £20 to £50 range, and his current favourites are the secretive Reuben brothers at odds of 7-2. "They've been backed because they're favourites, but not to anything scary. "Betfred have hired a financial PR agency and lobbyists but I haven't taken a penny for them," says Pownall, who quotes the leading independent bookmaker at 5-1 and believes that there would be no objection on competition grounds if the firm, with 850 betting shops, were to take on the Tote's estate of over 500. "I won't offer bigger odds [despite lack of trade] because I know they're serious and they'd be attractive purchasers." "I saw a bit of money for PMU," Pownall adds, referring to the French pool-betting operator, "but since then they've gone pretty quiet and don't seem as interested." He has also taken bets on Martin Broughton, the businessman credited with ousting George Gillett and Tom Hicks from ownership of Liverpool Football Club last year, but believes that was largely prompted by Broughton's prominence in the news. One runner that Pownall is happy to put a line through is the charitable foundation proposed by the government-appointed non-executive members of the Tote board, the aim of which would be to preserve the Tote's independence while continuing to benefit charitable causes aligned to racing. "We saw a bit of money for that early doors but it was optimistic rather than shrewd, as I don't think it has a chance in hell," said Pownall, who has since dropped the foundation from his betting list. |
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