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International Game Technology (IGT) has dropped the appeal that was blocking the transition of the UK National Lottery from Camelot to Allwyn, finally allowing the handover process to begin in earnest.
In a statement to VIXIO GamblingCompliance, an IGT spokesperson confirmed it had dropped an appeal in the UK High Court, in line with its customer Camelot.
In response to the decision by the UK Gambling Commission to award Czech-headquartered gambling multinational Allwyn (formerly Sazka) the concession to run the UK National Lottery, incumbent operator Camelot launched an appeal in an attempt to block, and ultimately reverse, the transition.
IGT, a major supplier of Camelot which could also potentially lose access to one of the world’s five largest lottery contracts, launched a matching appeal.
In July, a judge ruled that a suspension to the transition process should remain in place while the IGT and Camelot challenges played out. At the time, the Gambling Commission warned that good causes stood to lose out on massive amounts of funding if the dispute continued.
On September 5, Camelot announced that it was dropping its case.
The Gambling Commission confirmed that Camelot’s legal challenge had been cancelled, but said it was compelled to continue waiting to begin the transition because the IGT case was still live. That challenge has now also been dropped.
“Following the announcement by Camelot, IGT has withdrawn its appeal against the UK Gambling Commission’s decision to commence transition of the National Lottery to a new licence holder prior to the outcome of the procurement challenge next year,” the IGT spokesperson said.
“IGT has been a long-standing technology provider to Camelot and joined the legal proceedings to support its customer. Now that Camelot has decided not to pursue an appeal, IGT will follow suit and will continue its cooperation with the UK Gambling Commission as the transition moves forward.”
A claim for damages against the judging process by which Allwyn was chosen ahead of Camelot, which has run the UK lottery since its inception in 1994, is still set to go ahead next year.
However, unlike the now-dropped appeals, that case does not block the beginning of the long handover process, ahead of the Allwyn taking over lottery operations from January 2024.
Speaking on a Q2 results call on Tuesday, Allwyn CEO Robert Chvátal said he was looking forward to working with Camelot on the transition and that the company would look to “learn from mistakes” made by the incumbent operator.
Chvátal also confirmed that Allwyn has received Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval to push forward with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) listing as it seeks to go public in the United States.
