Lawyers for Richard Desmond have claimed the Gambling Commission provided Allwyn with “significant assistance” in its bid for the fourth National Lottery licence in the UK.
As reported by The Telegraph, Desmond’s lawyers said advice from the regulator had helped Allwyn gain an unfair advantage in the race.
Desmond’s New Lottery Company was one of the bidders for the licence, but ultimately lost out to Allwyn.
Desmond is suing the Gambling Commission for as much as £1.3bn over its decision to award Allwyn the licence, which he alleged was full of “manifest errors”.
The High Court heard yesterday, 20 October, that during phase one of the competition process, the Gambling Commission provided feedback around Allwyn’s proposed operator share of surplus.
Allwyn had originally set its rate at 10% but, according to Desmond, the regulator told Allwyn to lower the rate, which he claims was a means of guiding a successful bid.
Andrew Wilson, the Gambling Commission’s former commercial director, said in written evidence that 10% was around double the top end of the expected range, and noted he was not attempting to help the operator by suggesting a lower percentage.
He wrote: “We felt, however, that if Allwyn continued with that submission at phase two, it would represent a risk to their business plan as it was highly inconsistent with their submission.
“As this could have been an error we were keen to make sure it did not prevail at phase two.”
Gambling Commission lawyers argued the regulator was allowed to give feedback on any “weaknesses, omissions, ambiguities” relating to a bid.
However, Desmond’s lawyer, Daniel Toldedano, contended that the Gambling Commission was instead indicating the rate was high compared to other applicants.
Toldedano said: “There’s no way that the Gambling Commission would have given this feedback to Allwyn, if in fact it was the lowest OSS at phase one.”
He also argued that neither the New Lottery Company or previous licence holder Camelot received feedback on the issue.
A Gambling Commission spokesperson told EGR the regulator does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.
The post New Lottery Company claims GC gave Allwyn “significant assistance” in lottery bid first appeared on EGR Intel.
Richard Desmond’s firm alleges the regulator provided guidance over bid details which helped the operator win the fourth National Lottery licence.
The post New Lottery Company claims GC gave Allwyn “significant assistance” in lottery bid first appeared on EGR Intel.