SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Dealmakers of Allwyn Group’s agreed SPAC merger with Cohn Robbins Holdings Corp (CRHC) have signalled that lottery conglomerate listing on NYSE will be temporarily delayed.
The transaction that was expected to be finalised during Q2, has been put back due to US stocks plummeting, amid fears of a pending global recession.
The Times reports that “the transaction will now not be completed before the third quarter, according to a presentation made to investors.”
In January, the board of Allwyn confirmed media speculation that the company was seeking to merge with CRHC– the SPAC vehicle of former Goldman Sachs COO and President Trump advisor Gary Cohn.
CRHC has disclosed that it had raised cash guarantees of $850 million, to execute its SPAC merger, setting Allwyn on course for a +$9 billion valuation on the NYSE.
However, at the whims of changing economic headwinds, global equity markets have endured months of turbulence since CRHC’s proposal.
This April the NYSE and Global Nasdaq SP500 fell below $4000, to its lowest value since March 2021, following a significant investor sell-off of tech and other high-risk stocks.
KKCG the investment fund of, Czech Billionaire Karel Komárek, the largest shareholder of Allwyn Group, has maintained that the SPAC merger was the intended outcome for its asset, irrespective of economic headwinds.
CRHC has outlined its determination to list Allwyn on the NYSE, as the Pan-European lottery conglomerate’s new home, in which it will pursue becoming the dominant player in the $300 billion global lotteries marketplace.
The firm’s portfolio includes the leading European lottery brands of SAZKA (Czech Rep), OPAP (Greece and Cyprus), Lotteries Austria and Lotto ‘Gioco’ Italia.
In March, Allwyn secured its biggest lottery contract, by winning the UK government’s Fourth National Lottery Competition – which will see it succeed Camelot Group as the operating steward of the National Lottery beginning in 2024.
US ambitions would see deal makers outline that Allwyn would scale its business to win and revitalise North American and emerging market lottery using its best-in-class European operations, technologies and systems.
