On April 1st, 2008, Sportech is leaving their future with Tote. CEO Ian Penrose commented that they already have shown their interest in buying the government owned bookmaker. Tote, which has four hundred fifty betting establishments and receives bets from players at the fifty-nine British race courses, was placed in the market earlier this month. Tote, which is based in Wigan, is expected to fetch around 400 million pounds for taxpayers in the country.
Previously, gaming organization Coral was the early frontrunner in the Tote buyout but Ian Penrose commented that they could pose a serious bid for Tote. He added that it would combine the two most well-known gaming past time in Britain, which is British football and horseracing. Just last year, Penrose bought Vernons for 51 million pounds to combine with the Littlewoods pool business of Sportech.
The merger helped Sportech to increase their earnings to 11.6 million pounds, despite incurring a 400,000 pound interest expenses due to the ongoing credit meltdown. Penrose also said that he is also changing the names of Littlewoods and Vernons and reforming it as The New Football Pools. Ian Penrose is also hoping to make it more accessible for players to enjoy pools, which also gives gamblers the option to wager on the match results and to feature larger jackpots to compete effectively with the National Lottery.
Penrose said that players will now have the opportunity to cell phone gambling and by using touchscreen in betting stations. Sportech will also relaunch the Spot the Ball game aside from offering brand new football games.
April 24, 2008
Nancy Parker