Gala Makes a Bid for Tote Betting

Gala Coral has made a £425 million offer for the betting shop estate of state-owned bookmaker The Tote, and was willing to spend an extra £80 million if necessary. According to Reuters, Gala would prefer the betting firm was split up, and could pay cash for its 540 shop estate.

The rest of the business, which included on-course pool-betting and Internet betting, would then stay with the government and could be gifted to the racing industry.

"We are not trying to gatecrash a party we have not been invited to," a spokesperson for Gala said in the report, "but we believe we have a proposal that makes good sense for government and most importantly is good for the racing industry."

A consortium led by the Racecourse Holdings Trust had earlier offered around £320 million, well below the £400 million benchmark figure, and recently said that it had not yet given up hope of re-entering the bidding process.

Deal Or No Deal

New version of the online game 'Deal Or No Deal' can be found over at www.dealnodeal.me.uk. plays like the TV show of the same name, only this version is meal or no meal. play against the chef not the banker.