Betfred sales ease Tote buy

Betfred is selling 25 betting shops – including one in Kirkintilloch near Glasgow – to get round competition concerns over its acquisition of the Tote.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said it had accepted undertakings from Betfred’s parent company Lightcatch to dispose of the sites to rival Stan James. The move means the acquisition of the Tote will not be referred to the Competition Commission.

Although the OFT said it found that the acquisition did not give rise to competition concerns at a national level, there was a risk that it would result in a “substantial lessening of competition” in a number of specific areas. Betfred, the UK’s fourth-biggest bookmaker, won an auction for state-owned Tote, for £265 million, last year.