By Leah Montebello
Following Camelot’s withdrawn legal battle over the National Lottery licence this week, Allwyn seems to be heading full speed ahead with its American dream, as well as its $9.3bn (£7.9bn) New York listing.
Blank check firm Cohn Robbins Holdings Corporation (CRHC) announced this evening that its shareholders approved the business combination with Allwyn: paving the way for the firm to go public via a SPAC deal.
CRHC said yesterday that it was excited at the prospect of working with the Czech firm, stating that it would be competing for new lottery tenders “including in the $100 billion US market”.
While the company has expressed a relatively bullish approach for Allwyn’s stateside ambition, there is no doubt that it will be facing competition from the likes of IGT and Scientific Games.
Irish gambling giant Flutter, which owns Betfair and Paddy Power, has significant presence in the US, with FanDuel claiming 51 per cent share of the betting market.
Allwyn has a notable presence across Europe, including the Czech Republic, Austria, Greece and Italy.
For the UK, Allwyn welcomed Camelot’s decision to back out of the legal challenge and said it would be operator and regulator on the transition, with the £6.4bn contract due to start in February 2024.
Allwyn, which is headed by the Czech billionaire Karel Komárek, is reported to have said it would slash ticket prices from £2 to £1 and hike the amount of money going towards good causes.
Last month, the company said gross gaming revenue hit €902m for the second quarter, up 23 per cent year on year, and reflected the “continued organic growth and a more normalised operational environment in certain geographies”.
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