Lottery bidder rejects UK for $9bn float in New York
THE Czech oligarch behind one of the two favourites to run the National Lottery has snubbed Britain for the float of his gambling empire in favour of America.
Karel Komárek has opted for a New York listing of Sazka in a deal worth more than $9bn (£7bn), it was announced yesterday.
Sazka, also known as Allwyn, will merge with “blank cheque” investment company Cohn Robbins, having previously explored a London float.
The move comes with the selection of the next National Lottery operator on a knife-edge. Mr Komárek’s Sazka has provided arguably the biggest challenge to incumbent Camelot in the UK draw’s 28-year history.
The two operators want to win the licence to run the National Lottery for up to a decade from 2024. Camelot has done so since its inception in 1994.
The Gambling Commission is expected to finalise the winning bidder in the coming weeks.
Sazka’s UK bid is led by Sir Keith Mills, the Air Miles tycoon who is advising Boris Johnson on how to tackle obesity.
Sir Keith is set to receive a significant bounty from the float, having previously revealed that he has personally invested in Mr Komárek’s empire.
Mr Komárek, whose gas and energy empire was built in the years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, has an estimated net worth of nearly £4bn.
In the past decade he has switched attention to the gambling sector, with Sazka now running in lotteries in Austria, Greece and the Czech Republic.
He explored floating the business in London in 2018 before dropping the plans amid stock market turbulence.
The UK capital was again thought to have been considered last year.
Mr Komárek said: “Listing on the NYSE is the next chapter in Allwyn’s history.”
Sir Keith said: “It is a significant endorsement of Allwyn’s ability to increase lottery sales around the world by making them more entertaining, innovative, and appealing to their customers. Whilst we have already submitted our bid for the fourth National Lottery Licence, this partnership only makes our proposition stronger.”