MAEBASHI, Gunma Pref. (Kyodo) Takafumi Horie, president of Internet service provider Livedoor Co., offered Wednesday to reconstruct a deficit-ridden racetrack that the Gunma Prefectural Government plans to close at the end of the year.
Horie said he made the offer during a meeting with Gunma Gov. Hiroyuki Kodera in Maebashi. "The governor's response was encouraging," Horie said.
Livedoor has shown interest in managing the Takasaki Keiba horse racing track in Takasaki since losing to Internet mall operator Rakuten Inc. in its bid to found a new professional baseball team in Sendai.
The company wants to sell betting tickets for Takasaki Keiba on the Internet to boost overall revenues and make the racetrack profitable.
Takasaki Keiba has cumulative losses exceeding 5 billion yen.