Allwyn sets sights on Irish national lottery

After winning a much-contested bid to take over the operations at the UK National Lottery, the Czech Republic-based lottery conglomerate, Allwyn, is now looking to expand its reach and financial clout to yet another market.

The company is reportedly among the entities bidding to buy a majority stake in the Irish national lottery, the Financial Times reported. The media has cited people close to the matter and argues that Allwyn has already met with UBS bankers and representatives of the Irish lottery responsible for the sale of the stake.

This news comes after the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, which owns 80% of the lottery, said that it is going to sell its stake and began a process in February. Naturally, there have been many companies from the sector listening intently to see if they would be able to table a strong offer that secures them the majority stake.

Besides Allwyn, there are others. Française des Jeux, International Game Technology (IGT), and Scientific Games are all very interested to buy the majority stake, the media notes. This has not yet been confirmed publicly and attempts by the Financial Times to reach out to the parties involved proved fruitless.

Most have declined to comment while IGT and Scientific Games did not respond to the media’s request for comment. Allwyn has been moving fast in the lottery sector, expanding its reach at a rapid pace. A highly-debated and contentious bid to take over the UK National Lottery as of February 2024 was finally crowned with success.

Camelot, the outgoing incumbent, was dogged in its refusal and contended that it had been wronged by the way the tendering process was organized, but eventually settled with Allwyn and decided to bow out without further legal proceedings. Part of the decision to give up on its claim may come from a counter-offer Allwyn tabled, offering to buy up Camelot’s operations in the United Kingdom outright, and allow the company to at least cut some of its losses.

Meanwhile, Allwyn also moved in on Camelot Lottery Solutions, and bought the company, which owns the Illinois lottery. The company is important for another reason as it’s also the technological division of Camelot, which means that Allwyn received a big boost in its own technological capabilities from the deal.

Allwyn is definitely well represented across the world, but a very strong focus on Europe remains. The company has operations in Greece, Italy, Australia, Cyprus, and the Czech Republic. It’s worth remembering that Allwyn did try to buy the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s stake outright, but the company was refused and chose to launch an auction instead. Now, the company may be closer than ever to success.

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