SOURCE: Reuters

(London, England) — Britain will make an announcement in the new year about the troubled sale of the Tote pool betting system, a spokesman said on Monday, after reports it had rejected a bid from a horse racing industry consortium.

The Financial Times reported that despite promising to sell the Tote to the racing industry in 2001, the government was now considering holding an open auction for the business after the consortium failed to match its asking price.

The spokesman declined to comment on whether a decision had been made while a source close to the consortium told Reuters the government had not contacted them.

The consortium, made up of Tote management, the Race Course Association and the Racehorse Owners Association, originally put forward a 400 million pound ($804.6 million) bid but dropped it to 330-340 million pounds in September as the credit crisis and worries about consumer spending started to bite.

Bookmakers are expected to line up bids if the government does put the Tote up for sale on the open market. Gala Coral has already offered to pay 405 million pounds.

The Tote was set up in 1928 and comprises 540 high street betting shops, 59 betting shops on race courses across Britain as well as the pool betting system.

The European Commission blocked an attempted sale in 2005, on the grounds that the price was so low it constituted state aid.

(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by David Cowell)