Allwyn names Justin King chair of UK arm

The former supermarket boss will lead Allwyn’s UK business if it wins the National Lottery tender.

UK.- Allwyn, the newly rebranded SAZKA, has announced that it will name Justin King as chairman of its UK business if it wins the Gambling Commission’s tender for the fourth UK National Lottery licence.

King, who was chief-executive of the British supermarket giant Sainsbury’s Plc from 2004 to 2015, has already been working with Allwyn as a strategic advisor for its bid for the National Lottery licence.

Allwyn said that if it wins the tender, King would take “immediate responsibilities for ensuring the seamless transition from the current operator of The National Lottery to Allwyn”.

Sir Keith Mills, chair of Allwyn’s National Lottery bid, said: “Justin has an impressive track record of delivering transformative change at large organisations including his time at Sainsbury’s where he revitalised the supermarket giant.

“His knowledge of the British retail sector and a keen interest in rejuvenating the British high street will be of particular importance to The National Lottery’s retail network. 

“Through his role on Allwyn’s Advisory Board, Justin has been pivotal over the course of our application; his appointment as Chair, should we be selected, is a natural evolution, playing to his strengths and further enhancing our credentials.”

King said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the team over the last two years, putting together a game-changing application and transition plan. Allwyn has an impressive track record of making lotteries better and we have a world-class team of sector specialists, backed by Allwyn’s extensive network of European lottery expertise.

“It would be an honour to lead Allwyn as operator of the National Lottery, playing our part in guiding this treasured institution into a new era.”

Where things lie in the UK National Lottery competition

After a delay, the Gambling Commission is due to announce the winner of the National Lottery tender this month.

Allwyn is up against the incumbent operator, Camelot, which has run the lottery since its inception in 1994, Italy’s Sisal, which is in the process of being acquired by Flutter and Richard Desmond’s Northern + Shell.

The new ten-year licence to run the National Lottery will start in February 2024. The lottery reported sales of £8.3bn for the financial year ending March 31 2021, an increase of £468.8m year-on-year.

Earlier this week, it emerged that Flutter had written to the Gambling Commission insisting on the importance of the lottery being run by a UK-listed company.

Last month, Czech-owned Allwyn announced that it had agreed terms for a merger with Cohn Robbins Holdings, the SPAC vehicle of former Goldman Sachs Global COO Gary Cohn and US activist investor Clifton S Robbins, in order to list on the New York Stock Exchange and finance further expansion beyond its core European markets.