The land and online bookmaker, Betfred, is offering to sell off a betting shop in each of the areas where the Office of Fair Trading has raised concerns about competition following the recent agreement to acquire the Tote from the UK government.

Betfred will part with 25 betting shops in total before the regulator approves the Tote deal. The gambling operator currently owns 840 land based betting shops in the UK and the Tote deal will see the company adding a further 517 shops to its portfolio.

In June we reported how a decision has been made over the future of the Tote bookmaker which is currently state owned. Betfred is to purchase the group following a bid of around £265 million, half of which will be given back the racing industry. If the previous government had sold the Tote the amount received would have been around £400 million.

The industry was somewhat disappointed as they had favoured a rival bid from SIP, a consortium led by British Airways chairman Martin Broughton.

At the time the Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt said: "It was a closely fought contest.

"Of the £265m in the headline price only just over £90m will end up being paid to the Treasury."

As part of the deal, Betfred will keep exclusive control of the pool betting system on UK racecourses for the next seven years.

Betfred will pay the racing industry £11m to March 2012, and further payments of £9m a year for the next six years of the licence.

Fred Done, Betfred's executive chairman, commented: "Buying the Tote has been an ambition for years, so I am absolutely delighted.