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Camelot wins National Lottery contest

07/08/2007

Camelot is to retain its licence as the operator of the National Lottery, it was announced today.

The National Lottery Commission, which regulates the contest, named the company as its preferred bidder for the contract following a battle between Camelot and Indian rival Sugal & Damani (S&G) for the ten-year deal.

Announcing the decision at a press conference the commission's chair, Dr Anne Wright, said that the body, which regulates the lottery, had unanimously agreed to award Camelot with its third licence to run the competition.

She stressed that the commission had come to the conclusion on the basis of which bidder would "maximise" the amount of money generated by the lottery for good causes as part of a "rigorous and thorough" decision process.

Camelot, which has run the National Lottery since its launch in 1994, is subsequently expected to enter into a new agreement with the commission by the end of this month, Dr Wright added.

Analysts had widely predicted that the company, which pledged to introduce the world's first ever global draw as part of its bid, would retain its National Lottery contract.

Having seen off competition from smaller Delhi-based S&G, which operates lotteries across India, Camelot will now be responsible for hitting targets to raise funds for London's 2012 Olympics.

Its third licence to run the National Lottery will cover the period from February 1st 2009 to 2019.

Camelot previously fought off competition from a consortium headed by Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson to secure its existing seven-year lottery licence, which began in 2002.


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