The racing industry consortium has first refusal to buy the Tote, but it was thought that it was struggling to get the finance in place to match the government's new valuation, which is in excess of £400m.
It had been thought that venture capital firms and overseas gaming firms including Gala Coral, Europe’s largest bookmaker, would bid for the Tote.
Originally, the government wanted to sell the Tote to the racing industry for a knockdown £150m but the European Commission ruled that the move was anti-competitive. The Tote was set up in the late 1920s to provide extra competition for bookmakers and to support racing with a slice of its profits.
