iGaming Business – Turkish regional services sector holding company Net Holding is reported to be preparing a bid for the country’s national lottery (Milli Piyango) in partnership with Hitay Yatirim Holdings and with games solutions firm Scientific Games as an operational services provider.

According to the Bloomberg news agency, Net Holding will have a 90% stake in the group while Hitay will hold the other 10%.

Net Holding confirmed in a public filing that Scientific Games will be signed as a service provider before the bid is tabled.

Two people familiar with the bidding process have suggested that UK National Lottery operator Camelot Group and interactive gaming software and service provider GTECH could also compete for the licence, which could be worth up to $2 billion (€1.5 billion).

An auction for the rights to operate the lottery will take place in June with prequalification criteria due to be submitted this week.

The auction was due to take place in January of this year but was cancelled amid political unrest in the country.

In 2009, Turkey dropped plans to privatise the lottery after two bidders were unable to meet the $1.6 billion minimum asking price.

Capital city Ankara instead opted to sell licences for games operated by the lottery.