Cohn-backed SPAC readies to take European lottery operator public
A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by former Goldman Sachs president and Trump adviser Gary Cohn is readying to take a European lottery group public in a $9.3bn listing.
Czech firm Allwyn Entertainment, which is currently bidding to run the UK’s national lottery, said on Friday it intends to merge with Cohn Robbins Holdings in a move that will take the firm public on the New York Exchange.
Allwyn, which already runs lotteries in Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece and Italy, has thrown its hat in the ring for the next UK lottery license which is up for renewal in 2023. The successful bidder for the license is due to be announced next month.
Allwyn boss Karel Komarek said that the firm was going public in order to ramp up investment in technology. Komarek said the group was eyeing up new markets that are expected to generate lottery ticket sales of €129bn this year.
Cohn Robbins Holdings was formed in 2020 when Cohn joined forces with Clifton Robbins, a former executive at private equity firm KKR, to target establish businesses with potential for long-term growth, The Financial Times reported. The firm raised $828m in late 2020.
Allwyn Entertainment, previously known as Sazka hired Citigroup, JPMorgan, Cazenove and Morgan Stanley to explore a listing in 2017 but abandoned the plan a year later.
US private equity group Apollo Global Management invested $500m in the company.