The UKGC competition for the fourth license to operate the National Lottery has found another entrant in the form of Czech gambling conglomerate SAZKA Group.
They have been seen as a strong contender to win the operating contract from the Camelot Group since the start of the year.
Pushing forward with the tender
SAZKA Chief Executive Robert Chvátal has confirmed that his company has completed the UKGC’s ‘selection questionnaire’ and are on track for the bid. They are also in the process of hiring a UK team that will focus on building any partnerships that will help them to build a compelling case.
Robert Chvátal said: “The UK National Lottery is a national treasure with a proud 26-year history. Now it is looking forward to the next decade and how it can best serve its customers in a world so disrupted by digital transformation, the fourth industrial revolution and Covid. The landscape from when the UK National Lottery was launched back in 1994 has changed beyond measure.”
Expanding SZAKA
This latest bid to become to win the National Lottery tender comes as Chvátal and SAZKA founder Karel Komarek Jnr have recently undertaken an aggressive European M&A expansion plan. This involved them securing majority ownerships of Casinos Austria and Greek lottery operator OPAP. If they were to secure the National Lottery from the UKGC, they would be on track for an even more impressive year.
There are a few factors that the UKGC bases their decision on including ‘operator transparency’, a ‘focus on performance’ and two other key conditions. The team at SAZKA firmly believe that their track record of facilitating lotteries will result in their success in this case.
