UK Tote Group raises £20m war chest to expand beyond horseracing

UK Tote Group has raised an estimated £20m from a capital rights issue as the pooled betting operator looks to diversify outside of horseracing. The funds were received from existing Tote Group shareholders, which includes a cross-section of the UK horseracing industry’s glitterati. Prominent shareholders in the UK Tote Group include Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sir Nicholas Soames and the Niarchos family. Procees of the capital rights issue will be invested into UK Tote’s core platform, as well as the group’s expansion of its pooled betting offering into other sports. The group highlighted this expansion as a vital part of the upcoming Tote product roadmap, as it looks to appeal to a broader base of bettors. “Our ability to respond to new opportunities, beyond our initial acquisition of the business, remains a key priority and we are grateful to our enormously supportive shareholders who share our ambitions for the Tote,” UK Tote Group corporate affairs director Susannah Gill told EGR. “We have completed a capital raise to allow for investment into the core platform on which we offer our digital racing pools product, as well as being able to expand into other sports,” she added. EGR understands the forthcoming review of the UK Gambling Act also played a part in the decision to try to raise additional funds from the group’s shareholders. “We know that the regulatory world is going to look different at the end of this review. We don’t know when these changes will actually happen and what they will be, but we want to make sure we’ve got the resources to put in place anything that’s required,” Gill said. EGR has learned that diversification plans are at an early stage, with Tote Group unable to confirm a definitive timeline for a launch. However, Gill dismissed any suggestion that the coronavirus pandemic necessitated the expansion of the firm’s pooled betting offering away from racing, which has struggled to cope with betting shops closed and a lack of on-track spectators. “This will ensure the Tote can appeal to a broader base of sports fans who have not, as yet, chosen to bet with the Tote. This is an essential element to ensuring the further growth and success of the Tote and increasing the role it can play in supporting British racing.” Gill explained.