Intralot and Gtech Fight For Lottery Concession


01/09/2012 : INTRALOT AND GTECH VIE FOR MALTA BUSINESS
 
Concession should have renewed automatically says lotto giant
 
Greek lotto behemoth Intralot (trading as Maltco) is fighting to keep its soon-to-expire seven year Maltese lotteries concession from falling into the hands of the only other bidder, Lottomatica subsidiary GTECH.
 
Maltco has reportedly increased its bid to government after an injunction taken out by the company was overturned.  The court action contested the Government’s call for international contenders to enter into a bid process for the business with Maltco arguing that its concession should have been automatically renewed based on good performance over the past seven years, said a report in Malta Today.
 
On overturning the injunction Judge Joseph Zammit McKeon said "as Maltco's licence conditions were clear, it is welcome to compete in a new expression of interest."
 
This is not the first time GTECH and Intralot have gone head to head, in 2009 GTECH lost its lucrative Ohio Lottery Commission business to Intralot, taking the fight to court by claiming a flawed bidding process, which it subsequently lost.
 
However, more recently, industry observers were surprised by the rumour of an alliance between Greek gambling monopoly OPAP, Intralot, Lottomatica and its subsidiary GTech for the exclusive licence to operate State Lotteries in Greece.