MaltaMedia.com

A ten year concession agreement for the rights of the National Lottery of Malta has been signed between Government and Maltco Lotteries Limited.

This Concession was granted after a competitive tendering process which was commenced on the 24th October 2011. Two bidders, Maltco Lotteries Limited, which has been running the National Lottery since 2001 and GTech Betco Consortium submitted their tenders on 5th January 2012.

Following the Adjudicating process both bids satisfied the technical and financial requirements laid down in the Call for Tenders. The bidders have also satisfied the due diligence criteria to satisfy the Fit and Proper Test required by the Lotteries and Gaming Authority.

On this basis both bidders qualified to be adjudicated on their respective Financial Offer. These were opened on 22nd March 2012 in the presence of representatives of both bidders and a Notary Public. The highest bid of Euro39.1million was offered by Maltco Lotteries Ltd and they were declared as the Preferred Bidders.

With the finalization of the Concession Agreement and following the statutory notice published by the Lotteries and Gaming Authority on its intention to grant a licence to Maltco Lotteries Limited, a National Lottery Licence to offer National Lottery Games on an exclusive basis and additional games on a non-exclusive basis was granted by the Authority with effect from 5th July 2012.

Minister of Finance, the Economy and Investment Tonio Fenech commented that through this process Government ensured that it obtained the best market value for the concession rights, thus placing an important financial contribution for Government Revenues. Additionally, the National Lottery License will carry the obligation of transferring funds as per law to the Good Causes Fund, and from this license, also an annual contribution to the planned Responsible Gaming Fund (Euro50,000 per annum).

As from the 5th July 2012, the minimum age to play national lottery games is going up from 16 years to 18 years as per amendments made to the Lotteries and Other Games Act in 2010. This is in line with Government’s responsible gaming approach.

The second National Lottery License will see the introduction of further new technology, which should make the games more interesting and in line with technological advancements which will be for the benefit of the public and of the authorised agents using such equipment on a daily basis.