Brighton racecourse is to be sold to property tycoons David and Simon Reuben as part of a £65.9 million deal for owner Northern Racing.

Northern, which also runs Fontwell Park, near Arundel, has agreed a sale to the billionaire brothers, who already own racecourse company Arena Leisure.

It is understood the Reubens may want to merge the two businesses.

In addition to Brighton and Fontwell, Northern owns racecourses at Chepstow, Newcastle, Bath, Great Yarmouth, Hereford, Sedgefield in Durham and Uttoxeter in Staffordshire. Arena owns seven including Doncaster and Royal Windsor.

A combination of Arena and Northern would create a £300 million racecourse owner.

The takeover of Northern by two of the richest men in the country could mean more investment at Brighton, which has enjoyed a revival in fortunes in recent years.

Between 2000 and 2005, Northern spent £5 million transforming the racecourse from a rundown venue into one of Brighton and Hove's most successful attractions.

In 1998 the average crowd was about 400. It now stands between 2,500 and 3,000.

General manager Matt Hudson was not allowed to discuss the deal with the Press.

However, Northern chairman Graham Stow said the business would continue to "prosper and play a leading role" in racing with the support of the Reuben brothers. The 200p-ashare offer was less than had been expected, with shares reaching as high as 242.5p last week, giving the group a market capitalisation of £85 million.

Northern finance director Tim Kelly said: "The share price at 240p and even at 180p, which is where it was at before Christmas, had a lot of bid speculation in the price."

Arena hosts 25 per cent of horse racing fixtures in Britain and, besides Doncaster and Royal Windsor, has courses at Lingfield Park in Surrey, Wolverhampton, Southwell in the East Midlands, Folkestone and Worcester.

In March, Northern posted annual pre-tax profits of £3.4 million, down from £4.2 million in the previous year after it was hit by poor weather and a drop in attendance during the football World Cup.

However, it said it had seen trading in line with expectations in the current year.

The group was established in 1989 with the acquisition of Uttoxeter racecourse.

Under the late president Sir Stanley Clarke, the group then purchased a further seven courses before its tie-up with Aim-listed firm The Chepstow Racecourse in 2003.

The Reubens convinced shareholders owning 86 per cent of the business - the estate of Mr Clarke and property company St Modwen - that the cash offer was fair value for the group.

Northern's land holdings of about 2,000 acres is said to be a major driving force behind the Reuben brothers' deal.