Tourism and heritage minister John Penrose has told the House of Commons that Betfred has now completed the £265m acquisition of the Horserace Totalisator Board (Tote).

In a written statement to the House, Penrose announced that the government had offloaded the state-owned bookmaker following a legally-binding agreement signed on 7 June. Penrose said: "The government will now enter into detailed discussions with representatives of the Racing industry on the design of a scheme for disbursing its share of the net proceeds of sale in a manner which complies with EU State Aid rules."

The announcement that Betfred was to acquire the Tote was made last month, with the horse racing sector in line to benefit from more than £155m as part of the deal.