Lottery operator calls off New York listing

NATIONAL Lottery group Allwyn Entertainment has called off plans to list in New York, which would have netted its billionaire owner an estimated £690 million.

Karel Komarek’s group had planned to join the stock exchange through a £7.4billion merger with a special purpose acquisition company.

But Allwyn, which will replace Camelot as Britain’s National Lottery operator in 2024, cited ‘significant market volatility’ and ‘concerns about the prospects for inflation, interest rates and recession’. The shelved listing follows a delay in May when Allwyn said it aimed to complete the move in the third quarter of this year.

Komarek is worth an estimated £6.5billion and owns luxury properties around the globe including a stately home near Prague and an eight-bedroom property in Swiss ski resort Verbier.

Allwyn said it remains ‘excited about the many opportunities we see in the lottery business in Continental Europe, the UK, the United States and elsewhere’.