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Canadian teachers' pension to buy UK lottery operator

NEW YORK

Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:50pm EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Canada's largest
pension plan, said on Thursday it would buy Camelot, the British national
lottery operator, for 389 million pounds ($576 million).

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Camelot has been reviewing its options since last year when some of its
shareholders -- Cadbury Plc, Royal Mail Enterprises, De La Rue Plc, Fujitsu
Services and Thales Electronics -- indicated interest in selling.

Private equity firm CVC and the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan had been the
remaining bidders for the operator, a banking source close to the process
told Reuters RLPC earlier in March and a final decision had been expected.

The Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan controls assets of nearly $90 billion.
Among its many holdings are: a majority stake in the Toronto Maple Leafs, as
well as airports in the United Kingdon, gas and timber holdings, and several
public venues throughout Canada.

Camelot has a nine-year license to run the British lottery system, and an
option to extend that deal for an additional five years.

The lottery is one of the most popular forms of gambling in the United
Kingdom. Aside from money used for prizes, a majority of the lottery's
income goes to "good causes" designated by the British Parliament. Other
proceeds go to taxes and lottery retailers. Camelot gets one of the smallest
shares of the lottery income.

In January 2010, the most recent month for which results are available,
Camelot said National Lottery ticket sales rose 2.7 percent over the same
period last year.

"We look forward to partnering with management to realize the full potential
of the Camelot business over the remaining license term and into the
future," said Wayne Kozun, senior vice president for public equities of the
Teachers' plan.

The investment banks Rothschild and Greenhill & Co had run the auction for
Camelot.

Completion of the transaction is conditional upon approval from Camelot's
regulator, the National Lottery Commission, the pension plan said in the
release.

(Reporting by Megan
<http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=megan.davies&>
Davies and Ernest Scheyder, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)


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