UK Tote Group adds French racing to offering in deal with PMU

The UK Tote Group has signed a deal with France’s Pari Mutuel Urbain.

UK.- The UK Tote Group has entered into an agreement with France’s Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) in order to add French horse racing to its UK and Ireland pool betting offers. It will offer PMU’s pool betting monopoly on French horse racing to British and Irish bettors, covering 7,000 annual pools from 88 French racecourses, including 262 pattern contests.

The agreement got underway yesterday (Sunday) with the Prix De l’Arc De Triomphe. UK Tote is currently offering the six most popular tote bet types on French events: win, place, exacta, trifecta, quinella and swinger but plans to add more. The London-based operator has made cooperation with international operators part of its strategy, which has included the World Pool.

UK Tote CEO Alex Frost said: “We are delighted to work with the PMU on this incredibly positive development for UK and Irish racing fans, which will also drive increased revenues for the grassroots of French racing. 

“By commingling our UK pool into the French pool, British and Irish Tote customers can bet into huge pools on the top-class racing action from France. With huge liquidity in pools, there is great value available on every race with winning customers welcomed at the Tote. 

“I would like to thank the PMU team for their cooperation and support, and we wish everyone a successful weekend ahead of two fantastic days of racing at Longchamp.”

PMU CEO Emmanuelle Malecaze-Doublet said: “This agreement is a strategic milestone in our long-standing partnership with UK Tote Group. We are very proud of this new step that marks the recognition of our expertise as a global horse racing operator and highlights the excellence of French races. This exciting development will enhance the already highly attractive horse betting offering of the UK Tote.”

In April, The UK Tote Group expanded its leadership team with the addition of two new chief commercial officers. Jon Knapman has been named CCO of the group’s international B2B business while Dave Hammond has been appointed as CCO for UK operations.

Knapman was previously commercial director and international partnership director at the Tote. He stepped up following the international business’s recent expansion into the US, South Africa and Hong Kong markets. The pool betting operator aims to expand into its international networks further to achieve more growth.