Exclusive: Tycoon rejects settlement offer from Gambling Commission linked to failed bid to run UK lottery. The media tycoon Richard Desmond is set for a courtroom showdown with the Gambling Commission that could cost good causes tens of millions of pounds, the Guardian has learned, after he rejected a settlement offer linked to his failed bid to run the National Lottery.
![[A National Lottery sign]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/401dabff49ee2c9494ce70c244bb10ee0b4e280d/0_118_3500_2100/master/3500.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Desmond launched a high court challenge in 2022 after the commission awarded the 10-year National Lottery licence to the Czech operator Allwyn, rejecting bids from his Northern & Shell business, as well as the incumbent Camelot. The commission has previously indicated that any damages the regulator may be required to pay would need to be taken from the National Lottery’s good causes fund, which supports a range of charities and sporting organisations. The regulator already funds the cost of fighting litigation from that pot of money.
In a meeting in the City of London last week, mediated by lawyers from the law firm Clyde & Co, representatives of the commission and Northern & Shell discussed terms of a settlement aimed at convincing Desmond to drop the action. The commission’s team told Northern & Shell it was authorised to offer up to £10m, according to two sources with knowledge of the talks, a fraction of the £200m Desmond is seeking.
