UK sports minister Gary Sutcliffe announced in a letter to Parliament yesterday that the government hopes to sell the Tote this autumn.
Goldman Sachs is to prepare sale documents for the sale, which has been an aim of the government for seven years already.
Sutcliffe noted however that the government may not go forward with the sale if no attractive offers are made. Sutcliffe said that Goldman Sachs' work would "provide further data on the company which would enable the government and the Tote board to consider how best to create further value inside the Tote if, in the light of market conditions, the government decided in the autumn not to proceed to a sale."
There is concern that in the current market conditions the Tote might be worth somewhere around £260 million to £290 million, which is well short of a racing consortium's £320 million bid, which was rejected as too low.