Allwyn announced today that Camelot the current licensee of the National Lottery has dropped its legal case against the company who was selected by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) to become the fourth National Lottery Licence holder.
Legal Action
In March 2022, the UKGC announced after a lengthy procurement process, that Czech-owned Allwyn would be awarded the fourth license, but Camelot who held the license for nearly thirty years appealed the decision and legal action was brought against Allwyn, and the UKGC.If Camelot had been successful, the UK Government would have had to stump up £600m in damages.
Allwyn to Pay Legal Costs
The news Camelot has withdrawn its case against the company is welcome news to Allwyn, who have stated they are to pay any legal costs incurred by Camelot to date and they are to drop their counterclaim against its incumbent.The legal action has delayed Allwyn’s plans to improve the current National Lottery, but the company can now move forward with its plans to ‘resurrect’ the current National Lottery.A spokesperson for Allwyn said, “We very much welcome this and look forward to co-operating with Camelot and the Gambling Commission on the transition process.“Allwyn is excited at the prospect of becoming the custodian of Europe’s biggest lottery.”Allwyn currently runs lotteries in Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Cyrus, and Italy. The company is due to take over the license in February 2024.Early on in the process, concerns were made as to the involvement of Allwyn owner Czech billionaire Karel Komarek due to his ties to Russia and energy supplier Gazprom although the company remains confident its intentions towards the UK are wholly ‘Pure’.Allwyn promised to slash ticket prices from £2 to £1 and increase the amount of money paid to good causes, including UK sports activities, their forecast predicts £38bn to good causes over the next ten years.