Camelot drops legal challenge over UK National Lottery licence transfer

[The Buzz]

Outgoing National Lottery operator Camelot has dropped a legal challenge which was preventing the transfer of the lottery licence to rival Allwyn.

Back in April, Camelot, which started running the lottery in 1994, took the Gambling Commission to high court to challenge its decision to hand over the national lottery operation to a rival after 28 years, accusing the regulator of getting the decision “badly wrong.”

Allwyn ended its counter-claim against Camelot for damages due to delaying the £6.4bn contract. But Camelot is still taking legal action against the Gambling Commission for giving the licence to Allwyn.

From BBC News:

After losing out on the next licence which starts in February 2024, Camelot launched a legal challenge in April, claiming that the Gambling Commission had got the decision "badly wrong".

This led to the transfer of the licence to be blocked automatically.

The Gambling Commission asked the High Court to overturn this block, warning it could cause disruption to the lottery, meaning good causes would lose out on funds.

Camelot 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, for it to be reasonable to provide them."

Read more here: https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62806297

And here is the statement from the UKGC: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.u...ithdraw-appeal