Bids for lottery licences announced

Bids for lottery licences announced

	Published : Tue, 08 Nov 2005 13:35 By : James Rowe Print this Story

LONDON: The National Lottery Commission (NTC) has announced bids for the licence to run the lottery in the U.K. for 10 years from February 2009.

This is the third licence, the term of which has been extended from seven years to 10 years. While eight bidders were in the field for the first licence, the second had bids from the current operator, Camelot, and Richard Branson's People's Lottery.

The NTC said it expects bids from U.K. and abroad. The bidding will be in the range of 5 million pounds to 10 million pounds.

The NTC stipulates that contenders must have proven operational, financial and technical capability to run the lottery. They would be required to manage a 20-month transition period during the time the licence is awarded and it coming into effect without any interruption. They will also be evaluated on their capability to raise money for the Good Causes fund.

While Camelot is working on its bid since the beginning of this year, Sir Richard Branson's spokesperson said Sir Richard would decide soon whether to be in the field or not.

The NTC said it is preparing a draft "invitation to apply", which will be released in April 2006. Bids will be accepted from October 2006 to January 2007.

Along with the bids for the running of the lottery, there will be bids for equipment and software suppliers, retailers and contractors, who will be permitted to back more than one bidder. If Camelot does not win the bid, the company that wins the licence will have the option to take over the existing infrastructure for a minimum price of 10 million pounds.

Apart from raising money for Good Causes, the licence holder will be required to raise some 750 million pounds for the 2012 Olympics.

The U.K. lottery system has contributed nearly 17 billion pounds to Good Causes and more than 25 billion pounds in prizes. It has created more than 1,700 millionaires.

Camelot, with its five equal shareholders -- Cadbury Schweppes, banknote printer De La Rue, Fujitsu, French defence group Thales and the Royal Mail -- had pre-tax profits in the last financial year of 47.5 million.

The NTC's chief executive Mark Harris said the commission is impartial as to the identity of the next licence holder. The bidding will be a competitive process and the best bid will come out and win. The NTC has engaged NM Rothschild as an adviser.

Apart from Camelot and People's Lottery, others reported to be interested in the bid are Intralot, a Greek supplier of lottery technology, Sportech, which owns Littlewoods Pools, Australian gaming group Tattersall’s and possibly some consortia, which may get formed.