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According to BBC News Gordon Brown will tomorrow announce plans to sell off The Tote and other state-owned assets in order to raise £16bn
Whether the plan will just form part of the election manifesto or will be completed before the election does not seem clear at present[/color:33us0utl]
As always, you can rely on Bottler, the master financier, to pick exactly the wrong moment to sell something.
Hills are in debt, Gala Coral are in debt, Ladbrokes are about to acquire extra funding via a right issue – who on earth is going to want to buy the Tote?
AP
The tote is like a horse with huge potential trained by Grayson or Berry and should prove a bargain buy as a result. Even in an era of exchanges and spreads it remains the only credible platform for exotics and multiples.
Please somebody with a clue buy it…even No Morals.
Ideally you’d want racing to get it
with the proviso
that the current rabble
promise
not to go anywhere near it and, instead, get in those who can to run it.
As always, you can rely on Bottler, the master financier, to pick exactly the wrong moment to sell something.
Hills are in debt, Gala Coral are in debt, Ladbrokes are about to acquire extra funding via a right issue – who on earth is going to want to buy the Tote?
The Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, Vince Cable, has said that the policy is fundamentally flawed because "
is not a good time to sell assets".
Betfair was my thought too. Of the current betting operators they are the likeliest to awaken the long-comatose giant
Would sale to a betting operator have the MMC sniffing around?
Ideally perhaps this may be a golden opportunity for the Racecourses, BHA, Jockey Club, ROA, Horsemen’s Group etc etc to mobilise –
wholly for the benefit of racing
When they were talking about selling the Tote a couple of decades ago there was some mention that the Tote wasn’t actually a state-owned asset, and therefore the Government couldn’t sell it and keep the proceeds.
Wanted, Sheikh Mo type (but non-muslim) to buy a bookmakers, then sell back to "racing" for £1.
Or, someone to buy it, drastically reduce the % take out, undercutting all "bookmakers". Laddies, coral and co go broke, then up the % again to have a monopoly. Simples.
Anyone know someone who fits the bill?
Where’s Barry when you need him!
Value Is EverythingAnyway being strictly non-aligned it wasn’t a party-political point I was making. Surely you agree that Cable is one of those rare things: a politician who actually understands the subject he has been chosen to pontificate upon.
‘Wise’ relatively speaking, which admittedly is faint praise. ‘Sensible-but-obvious’ to those in the real world who have a working knowledge of matters economic and fiscal.
Cant see how a bookmaker buying it would make The Tote any more attractive for the win single punter. Would Betfair if they bought it cannibalise their exchange percentages by offering lets say a 5% takeout…doubt it.
It needs to be taken over by a non vested interest willing to provide a plausible alternative to the scourge of bookmaker takeout and insider laying, with the majority of the profits reinvested in the sport.
Sadly cant see it happening.
There was an item on the "Today" programme today about the sale of the "Tote" at about 06:20 which made interesting listening.
It will be available later today on "Podcast":-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj9z
Regards – Matron
It’s a shame that the Bruce Millington Q&A is closed. I would have been intrigued to know how today’s Post managed to miss this story entirely.
Hmm well the government postponed selling the Tote this time last year and at the time a minister said this.
“After further work over the summer, I have now concluded that it is not appropriate to pursue a sale in these market conditions. I have therefore decided that the Tote should be retained in public ownership for the medium-term, and brought to the market when conditions are likely to deliver value for the tax payer and racing."
So it appears they are now just so desperate for money and getting value for the taxpayer is of no interest. Brown has form on selling assets at the wrong time, remember gold.
It will be interesting to see what the Government do when they cannot find a buyer!!!
Taking Marble’s "Devils Advocacy a step further – what would happen if the PMU were to put in a successful bid?
It will also be interesting to see what regulations, such as defining takeout limits, will be applied around the sale.
According to this article, racing has been promised half the proceeds of any sale – something the Bottler probably managed to forget, along with the manifesto commitment mentioned.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/oc … rdon-brown
AP
Surely Mr Brown should be looking to sell off the remainder of the gold reserves. If he thought £186 an ounce was a good price ten years ago, surely £669 an ounce today is a cracking deal.
Either way, I would love racing to acquire the Tote. 20 years from now there will only be 2 ways to bet. Exchanges and Pool.
We’ve debated the scandalous theft of the Tote from racing by the Government before on here. I don’t think that they will get a Buyer myself.
The sooner we get rid of the corrupt and immoral government and get another one the better.
We’ve debated the scandalous theft of the Tote from racing by the Government before on here. I don’t think that they will get a Buyer myself.
The sooner we get rid of the corrupt and immoral government and get another one the better.
You want another "corrupt and immoral government"????
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