Giants to compete over National Lottery privatization
Posted by meb at February 19th, 2008
The government will step up the privatization process — a process long seen as stagnated due to early elections and the subsequent presidential vote — with the anticipated privatization of Milli Piyango (the national lottery) in May.
Leading foreign companies from abroad as well as domestic firms will compete over the privatization of the operating rights of Milli Piyango, a process that has been on the agenda of the government for four years. The bid specifications are expected to be ready within a month.
Merrill Lynch, the world’s largest brokerage, is the first foreign company that has taken a solid step toward future bidding by negotiating with the Milli Piyango administration, notifying the national lottery that it is interested in the bidding on behalf of both the company and its customers. The Greek Intralot, which operates legalized soccer betting, is another company interested in the Milli Piyango tender. The privatization is expected to get tougher with the participation of the sector’s two leaders, the Italian-American Gtech Lottomatica and the US-based Scientific Games, which have also contacted the Milli Piyango administration.
Approximately 10 companies are expected to purchase the bidding specifications from the Privatization Administration (ÖİB) while the final competition is expected to be among three or four contenders.
Milli Piyango, which has increased its turnover every year, earned $1.1 billion in 2006 and $1.3 billion in 2007. The Milli Piyango administration transfers some of its profit to public institutions after distributing earnings to the winners; thus, the share of public institutions will be guaranteed during the privatization process.
The license to be given in the privatization of the lottery is expected to be 10 years in total. The national lottery will be privatized in the form of either “sharing proceeds” or “license turnover for 10 years” by the end of 2008.
Two consulting companies, including one domestic firm, are assisting in the privatization of Milli Piyango. The domestic firm Ernst & Young Corporate Finance Consulting Inc. and Qlot Consulting AB are working on the feasibility report for the privatization.
Intralot CEO Constantinos Antonopoulos, one of the partners of İddaa (the company that handles legalizes sports betting in Turkey), had said last month that they were interested in the Milli Piyango tender.
Antonopoulos had underlined that they won the tender, which grants them operating rates for İddaa until 2011 together with İnteltek, in 2004. Saying that Intralot, one of the largest private companies of games of chance, is active across 40 countries, Antonopoulos emphasized: “We’re hopeful to win this new tender. The government has announced their intention to privatize Milli Piyango. This privatization will transfer Milli Piyango’s operating rights as well as its license to a consortium. If that is the case, then we are absolutely interested.”
source: Today’s Zaman
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