Totesport Sale
Hi All,
Given a few things have started to come out in the UK press recently I thought it best to give a little update on the sale of totesport.
To start from the beginning, totesport or 'the Tote', are currently owned by the British Government. In October 2009, Gordon Brown announced plans to sell several government assets, one of which being the tote. The current coalition government have continued the sale process, putting the business out to tender and offering the chance for bids to be made. Initially it is thought there were around 18 bidders, now the government have whittled it down to just two.
Current Bidders:
Betfred - No introduction needed to Betfred, except to say Fred Done has long since been interested in buying the tote. There are several natural synergies here, the most obvious of which is the location of the totes and Betfreds head office (14miles apart). Although Betfreds online HQ is now in Gibraltar.
SIP (Sports Investment Partners) - This is the lesser known of the two bidders. SIP is headed up by current British Airways and former Liverpool FC chairman, Martin Broughton. Broughton is also joined by Chris Bell (ex Ladbrokes Chief Exec) and John Connolly (Outgoing Deloitte Chairman).
Both bidders have recently revealed the details of their bid. See Betfreds bid and SIP's bid.
Initially, it is thought the Betfred bid was a slam dunk, however momentum appears to be growing for the SIP bid and could yet spring a surprise.
Ultimately, if Betfred wins, it seems like the two companies will merge and will result in between 100-150 job losses for tote staff in our head office. If SIP wins, jobs are secure and the tote brand will be kept in tact.
It's very much 50/50 at the moment however we do expect a final decision to be reached within the next week or two.
I don't know too much more than this but just thought I would give a bit of a heads up and try to help clarify things a little.
Dean
Dean Leyland
Affiliate Marketing Manager @ Sky Betting & Gaming