Tattersall's Eyes UK Lottery Bid
The U.K. Lottery Commission released its official Invitation to Apply (ITA) on June 29 in London, and Victoria-based Tattersall's, which operates lotteries in four Australian states and is a partner in the South African national lottery, has confirmed that it is throwing its hat in the ring. Tattersall's is reportedly in negotiations with investment banks Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs over financial backing for the bid. Other potential bidders for the U.K. license include the private equity house Terra Firma, Sir Richard Branson's People's Lottery and Ladbrokes, which is believed to have teamed up with Greek operator Intralot. Applications for the license close on Dec. 15.
From Camelot to Easy
Camelot Group plc IT Director Tim Newing is leaving the company to join discount airline EasyJet as IT director beginning Aug. 21. Newing has played a major role in the development of the U.K. National Lottery, for which Camelot is the sole license holder, over the last 10 years. He was a technical manager for IT at Camelot's technical supplier, GTECH UK, before joining Camelot as head of projects and networks in December 2000 (shortly after the company was awarded the second license to operate the lottery). He became IT director of Camelot in March 2002. "I’ve had a fascinating and stimulating time at Camelot and it has been an enormous pleasure to introduce so much innovation into the National Lottery," Newing said. "I hope I've helped to put Camelot in a strong position as it prepares to bid for the third lottery license. But now it's time for a new challenge."
Charity, Part 1 - Giving
U.K. punters will be able to choose which local good causes get their Lotto money under plans to be revealed today. After a series of outcries erupted over wasted money this year, U.K. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell will reveal two pilot schemes with up to £50,000 for each project if enough people opt for it on the new cards. Punters will be able to tick a box to support specific charities with their Lotto cash.
Charity, Part 2 - (Hoping to Be) Receiving
Chariot, organizer of languishing online charity lottery, Monday, is reportedly trying to milk additional funding out of its 70 charity partners to pay for marketing. The company raised an extra £2.59 million at the beginning of June through an urgent call for investment at a discounted share price and radically altered its business plan that included the departure of Chairman Tim Holley and Managing Director Craig Freeman. Holley's replacement, Peter Jones, said he is confident the charities would provide support. However, one charity, Shelter, denied charities were being asked for money. "Charities won't be using existing funds to put into Chariot," Shelter Director Alan Gosschalk said.
New Frontiers for Intralot
Greek lottery company Intralot has signed a US $15.5 million contract with Malaysian domestic lottery operator Magnum Corporation Berhad to supply, implement and support a Lotos centralized system for managing betting as well as 2,200 Coronis self-service lottery terminals. The contract is for eight years with an option to extend by a further two years. Intralot said it will begin work on the contract immediately and the new system should be operational by mid 2007. Intralot is also reportedly exploring the possibility of breaking into the Chinese lottery market, according to Greek newspaper the Reporter. The paper said that during a recent investment conference Intralot's senior officers commented that since 2004 the company has won the majority of the projects in which it has competed with its two major competitors, GTECH and Scientific Games and in the past year the company has won 10 new projects, acquired a betting company in Poland and increased its stake in its subsidiary INTELTEK from 25 to 45 percent.
New Growth Channels for Loto-Quebec
While lottery sales account for the majority of Loto-Quebec's $4 billion in gross revenue this year, its key growth areas are now well beyond lottery tickets. According to its annual report, Loto-Quebec's fastest-growing sectors are its two hotel operations and its multimedia subsidiary Ingenio, which develops several Internet-based lottery games and which Loto-Quebec pioneered in North America. Several lottery corporations in North America now offer various Web-based Ingenio games.
Chinese Venture - Lottery for Heritage
Guo Zhan, vice president of China's International Council on Monuments and Sites, has said that the cultural heritage departments in China would like to see a lottery issued to raise heritage protection funds, using Britain as a model. Britain's Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) funds heritage projects, and since 1994, more than US$5.8 billion has been granted to 16,700 heritage projects, according to Judith Cligman from the HLF who spoke at an international conference on heritage conservation in Shaoxing. China's miniscule heritage funds come mainly from government investment and local tourism income.