ISTANBUL - Turkish conglomerate Dogan Holding and its Italian partner Lottomatica said Thursday that they pulled out of the tender for privatization of country's national lottery.
Dogan and Lottomatica had met preliminary requirements for the tender.
However, in a stock market announcement, Dogan said it would not bid in the tender "due to market conditions."
In a separate statement, Lottomatica, one of the world's largest commercial lottery operators and a market leader in the Italian gaming industry, also said it pulled out of the tender and that it terminated the memorandum of understanding signed earlier with Dogan Holding to participate in the tender.
The privatization process for Turkey's state-owned national lottery is expected to begin in August. The process will officially start after enactment of the bill on financial control.
Along with several foreign companies, Koc Group, Cukurova Group and Is Yatirim are among the Turkish companies keeping a close eye on the privatization tender.
The National Lottery has an annual turnover of 683 million USD and 189 million USD of net profit.