Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan group completes agreements to operate Irish National Lottery

TORONTO – Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Teachers') today announced its subsidiary Premier Lotteries Ireland Limited (PLI) has finalized terms for a 20-year licence to operate the Irish National Lottery.

PLI ownership includes minority stakes held by An Post and An Post pension funds. An Post is a major Irish commercial organisation providing postal, communication, retail and financial services. A subsidiary of An Post is the current operator of the National Lottery.

Teachers' is the owner of Camelot Group, the operator of the UK National Lottery.  Camelot's subsidiary, Camelot Global Services, will provide consulting services to the existing management team of the Irish National Lottery.

PLI was selected in October 2013 as the preferred bidder for the licence following a competitive bidding process. With terms finalized, the initial payment of the €405-million licence fee will be made to the Irish government. The transition to PLI operating the National Lottery is expected to be completed over the next year.

"Teachers' is an experienced investor in lottery operators and we look forward to working with our partners in Ireland to grow the National Lottery through innovation and technology investments that grow sales," said Lee Sienna, Teachers' Vice-President, Long-Term Equities and chairman of PLI. "The Irish licence is a significant milestone in our strategy of building a leadership position in the international lottery sector."

Teachers' Long-Term Equities group focuses on direct investments with steady cash flow and growth potential over a long-term horizon with a low to moderate level of risk.

About Teachers'

With $129.5 billion in net assets as of December 31, 2012, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is the largest single-profession pension plan in Canada.  An independent organization, it invests the pension fund's assets and administers the pensions of 303,000 active and retired teachers in Ontario. For more information, including our 2012 and previous annual reports, visit www.otpp.com.  Follow us on Twitter: @OtppInfo