Two of eight bidders for the Greek government’s stake in gambling monopoly OPAP have formally complained that the sale process is not being handled fairly, including the consortium headed by Playtech and Gauselmann.
Both the Playtech-Gauselmann grouping and the Emma Delta vehicle backed by Greek shipping magnate George Melisanidis and Czech businessman Jiri Smejc have written to OPAP and the Greek state privatisation agency HRADF handling the sale, claiming the process is not being conducted in an objective and transparent manner, according to Reuters. Both parties have threatened legal recourse.
A key pillar of their complaints is OPAP’s recent renewal of an IT contract with one of the other bidders for the stake, Greek lottery and gaming services firm Intralot. Both bidders have called on OPAP and HRADF not to allow approval of the contract, on which OPAP shareholders were due to vote on yesterday, until this was postponed until 6 April to give HRADF’s newly appointed board more time to consider the agenda.
Gauselmann and Playtech’s letter, seen by the news agency, also claims that the renewed contract, due to expire in July, would result in OPAP paying far more than it had previously stated, and that any potential buyer of the government’s stake, currently valued at €660m based on share price, should have been consulted over a contract set to run for five years.
Emma Delta’s submission has also requested HRADF look into the legality of Intralot-linked companies taking part in the OPAP bid process, and has characterised the IT contract as a “bonus” which boosts Intralot’s financial position and unfairly advantages its bid over its competitors’.
OPAP said the IT contract was awarded following an international tender process, that no complaints over the procedure had been received at the time, and suggested the complaints “may serve other motives.”
The potential legal challenge from two of the bidders is but the latest setback to the embattled Greek government’s drive to quickly realise the maximum possible return from its 33% stake in OPAP.
Shares in OPAP fell 18% in a single afternoon last September after the Greek state announced OPAP would be paying 30% tax on gross revenue and 10% on winnings on all its operations from 2013, to avoid potential State Aid action from the EC, a move projected to wipe up to €280m off annual profits.
Further, in January, OPAP’s monopoly was ruled to be illegal as currently operated by Europe’s highest court, the CJEU, following joined cases brought by William Hill, Sportingbet and Stanleybet.
This did not however prevent the Greek government last week notifying the EC of plans to extend OPAP’s betting and gaming monopoly online, restricting private operator licence applications to non-RNG online games such as live casino and tournament poker until 2020. Accompanying enforcement measures to block operators from the market have also been challenged by Malta and the EC.
OPAP’s current monopoly in Greece includes offline sports betting until 2020, the exclusive right to operate 35,000 video lottery terminals for 10 years, and the Greek lottery until 2030.
Article written by Stephen Carter
