Camelot Drops Transition Appeal Against Allwyn but continues fight against UKGC
The landmark decision to award Allwyn Entertainment control of the UK National Lottery programme in March certainly took many by surprise. Perhaps none more so than Canadian-backed operator Camelot, who had previously held the UK’s lottery license for three terms, stretching back to the format’s launch in 1994. Dismayed, Camelot immediately took legal action, suggesting the Gambling Commission, the organization empowered to give ‘preferred bidder’ status to their favoured candidate, presided over a flawed licence tendering process.
In the weeks that followed the announcement of Allwyn’s success, Camelot lodged a High Court appeal, which resulted in a temporary suspension of any official licence allocation. The High Court then opted to lift this block in June, giving Allwyn the green light to make preparations towards assuming ownership of the contract in 2024. However, the current lottery operator, then forwarded the case to the Court of Appeals, threatening the handover timeline.
Yet, it emerged yesterday that Camelot have decided to drop their appeal and will now work co-operatively with Allwyn and the UK regulator to support the transition. In response, Allwyn will not pursue any legal costs or damages that have accrued as a result of Camelot’s challenge. However, although Camelot will not stand in the way of the process towards takeover commencing, they’ll still dispute the Commission’s licensing award in the courts early next year.
It remains unclear as to whether IGT, the gaming technology firm contracted by Camelot to support their lottery operations, will also withdraw their transition appeal. They registered their concerns in conjunction with Camelot to the Court of Appeals in the summer but have yet failed to clarify their position.
The reason for Camelot’s withdrawal is due to being unable to sustain the current financial burden of the challenge. A spokesperson said, ‘’It has become clear that the potential damages covered by the undertakings needed for the appeal to proceed would have been too large, and involved too great a commercial risk’’
The Gambling Commission has always maintained that it executed a fair, balanced, and legal tendering process. The licensing procurement trial is likely to take place before the end of February next year.
