Europe\’s largest betting company said it would bid for the Tote as soon as it became available. Gala\’s Chief Executive Neil Goulden said that the Government probably has no option but to auction the state-owned bookmaker.
“We\’re keen to buy it and we\’re sitting here waiting for the government to decide what they\’re going to do,” he told Reuters.
Goulden added that Gala is not interested in buying any online gambling company.
“We\’ve got absolutely no desire to buy any online businesses. We don\’t need the technology… so you\’re only buying customers and customers can surf around the net and find you anyway,” he said.
In separate news, Trevor Beaumont, CEO of the Tote, has asked the Government to consider turning the state-owned bookmaker into an employee trust along the lines of the successful John Lewis Partnership. Under the proposal, the Tote\’s 4,000-plus employees would bid for the bookmaker, mainly using bank debt secured against company assets and cash-flows.
Earlier last week, John Brown, former Chairman and Chief Executive of William Hill, urged racing’s leaders to ask the Government to abandon plans to sell the Tote and allow it to continue to operate in its present form.
In the meantime, British punters will be left worse off when the new mechanism to calculare starting prices for horse racing will be introduced following a review of the current system by the Starting Price Regulatory Commission. At present, SPs are calculated by taking the lowest bookmakers\’ price among the best third available “to good money” at the off. Starting November 1, SPs will be determined taking the lowest price among the top 50 per cent. Betfair\’s offer to provide data from its audit trail to assist in returning SPs was rejected by the Commission led by Lord Donoughue.
Calculators
