AUGUSTA – A Gardiner company has won its appeal for a $35 million lottery contract that had been awarded to another bidder.

Scientific Games Inc., which has an office in Gardiner, had lost out on a contract to operate parts of Maine’s lottery for six years with the possibility of four, four-year extensions. The award went to Intralot, a company based in Athens, Greece.

The state held a two-day hearing last month to determine whether the Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations followed state law or its own request for proposals.

Rules on file with the state Division of Purchases said the three-member appeal panel could invalidate the contract award if Scientific Games proved that something illegal or irregular occurred in the bidding process, or that the award was arbitrary.

The panel released a statement this week saying Scientific Games “has established by clear and convincing evidence that the awarding of the contract for lottery gaming systems and services to Intralot was in violation of law and contained irregularities that created a fundamental unfairness. The panel therefore invalidates the award made by the lottery.”

Patrick Traub, regional vice president of Scientific Games, said, “We’re gratified that the panel agreed with our contention that the scoring guidelines did not permit the lottery to effectively judge the differences between the bidders.”

Traub said his company plans to bid again on the contract. In the meantime, he hopes the delay will provide an opportunity for a review of lottery operations.

 

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