£100m Football Pools sale to Burlywood Capital 'unable to conclude'

A deal to sell the Football Pools betting business for almost £100m has been called off after the transaction was "unable to conclude".

The Pools, which have been running in the UK for 93 years, are currently owned by sports entertainment company Sportech (LSE: SPO.L - news) and still attract around 300,000 players each week.

The Football Pools involve people betting on the outcome of matches in the hope of taking home the maximum prize winnings of £3m.

At their height, they attracted around 10 million players but have struggled since the launch of the National Lottery in 1994.

Sportech were in advanced talks with private equity firm Burlywood Capital to offload the business for £97.25m, and plans were under way for the Pools to be listed on London's Alternative Investment Market.

But a statement from Sportech boss Ian Penrose on Tuesday said that Burlywood "was unable to conclude the transaction set out within their proposal".

The company said it would "continue to focus on maximising opportunities for the business".

Sportech said the operating profit for the Liverpool-based Pools was £7m for the first half of the year.