Camelot Global Services LLC will not be placing their flag into the soil of Pennsylvania after Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration pulled the plug on the privatization of the Pennsylvania State Lottery after 12-months of negotiations.
Camelot Global Services LLC plans to infiltrate 30-years of state run national lotteries within the U.S marketplace has taken a hammer blow to the cranium after the people behind the privatization of the Pennsylvania State Lottery have pulled the plug on the proposed $34 billion deal.
Gov. Tom Corbett, and his band of merry men, has had a U-turn on the fate of the Pennsylvania Lottery, after severing ties with the UK firm Camelot, after a year of negotiations.
The news broke on the eve of deadline day when Camelot Global Services LLC proposal to generate $34bn in profits over the next two decades; representing annual growth of 3% to 4%, expired on Dec 31st. Camelot now have to wave bye-bye to a potential $1.7bn in profits whilst turning its attention elsewhere.
News reports emanating from various sources on the web claim that the Pennsylvania administration responsible for negotiating the deal decided to withdraw, “due to changes in Pennsylvania’s political and competitive environment for lottery since agreement was first reached over a year ago.”
Camelot became the lone bidder for the contract after two unidentified companies dropped out of the race back in April 2012, and it looked a done deal until the pressure started to be applied by those who preferred to keep the management of their lottery in-house.
The Attorney Generals Office said the proposed terms of the contract violated state constitution and lottery law, the Democrats panned the idea, it polled poorly with the general public, and the trade union that represented most of the lottery’s workforce even threatened to sue Corbett’s administration in an attempt to usurp the deal.
It’s believed that over $4m was spent on consultations during the botched privatization deal.
In a statement, Alex Kovach, managing director of Camelot Global, said of Monday’s announcement: “We remain on good terms with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and are open to future possibilities. Camelot will continue to build our international relationships, having recently been announced as the preferred bidder for the National Lottery of Ireland, as well as several consulting contracts in North America.”
“As we move forward, we will take what we’ve learned to make our successful lottery even better – expanding the player and retailer base, improving player loyalty, and implementing strategies that will grow our lottery, responsibly and efficiently,” Corbett said in a statement. “…Our continued goal is to ensure a growing, predictable revenue stream for senior programs to meet the growing demand, and we will continue to work with all stakeholders and interested parties to explore new ways to harness market resources to enhance our Lottery’s continued success.”
Unclaimed UK Lottery Prizes
A punter in the UK will never realize how close they came to changing their lives after a prize for £213,807, that remained unclaimed from the 19 June 2013 draw, has passed the 180-day grace period and will now fall into the hands of charitable causes.
The ticket was bought in the Welsh County of Powys. The money and the interest accrued will fall into the hands of the National Lottery Good Causes.
A National Lottery spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, I can confirm that the ticket-holder did not come forward within the deadline to claim their prize and has now sadly missed out on this substantial amount of money. To avoid this unfortunate situation happening again, I would urge all National Lottery players to check their tickets on a regular basis.
“We tried very hard to find the ticket-holder and it’s a real shame that they have missed out, but there is still one winner – the nation. This money, and all the interest earned over the 180 days, will now go to benefit projects all over the UK funded by The National Lottery.”
If you thought that was a decent wedge of cash then consider that there has been over £30bn in unclaimed prizes since 1994.
