The deal between TAIPED and joint venture Emma Delta for the sale of OPAP is up in the air. Emma Delta is threatening to chancel the deal to avoid a 12-year Lottery contract OPAP has signed with Scientific Games and Intralot and another deal for technical support.
TAIPED claims that the OPAP sale cannot happen without the Lottery and technical support contracts and that these details were well-known those interested in purchasing OPAP. TAIPED and Emma Delta have agreed to meet tomorrow to discuss these issues.
TAIPED will demand that the sale go ahead as originally agreed upon, while Emma Delta will repeat its objections to the favorable terms of the Lottery deal and the technical support contract.
Emma Delta might have found an unlikely ally in the form of OPAP’s managing director Kostas Louropoulos. Mr. Louropoulos has signed the contracts for the Lottery and technical support, but has not finalized them. TAIPED officials have complained that he has been stalling and consider replacing him.
In any case, the fate of OPAP will be determined on Thursday’s meeting. Should Emma Delta pull out of the deal, they will forfeit a 20 million euro guarantee.
