The Camelot Group Plc consortium rallied by Cadbury Schweppes Plc and owned 22.5% each by that company, Racal Electronics Plc, De la Rue Group Plc and GTech Holdings Corp, and 10% by ICL Plc, was announced as the winner of the lottery operator’s licence by the UK Office of the National Lottery yesterday. The licence will be formally awarded next month, and runs for seven years. Observers see annual turnover reaching ?4,000m, with 56.5% going in prizes, tax taking 12%, operating costs and returns about 7%, leaving 25% for the good causes in the arts and sport, plus the Millennium Fund. GTech, with around 70% of the worldwide lottery market, will provide central Digital Equipment Corp system, software and games. Racal Network Services will supply and run the lottery’s network, extending its existing infrastructure serving 40 government departments and companies such as Virgin Megastores, and W H Smith Plc and Excel Logistics. ICL will make the Motorola Inc 68000-based terminals, which will be placed in retail outlets and garages, under licence from GTech – 10,000 initially, rising to 39,000 by 1996. De la Rue will print the tickets. Camelot hopes to start on-line games in November, a scratch-card game next spring. Reactions – page 7
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