Costs
The New Lottery Company Ltd and another company v The Gambling Commission [2025] EWHC 1522 (TCC)
The Technology and Construction Court rejected the applications for security for costs by the defendant Gambling Commission and interested parties to the proceedings. The litigation arose from the Gambling Commission's procurement process for the award of the fourth National Lottery licence which took place between 2019 and 2022. The claimants did not succeed in obtaining the licence and made two claims challenging the fairness of the procurement process and the decision to award the fourth licence to the interested parties, claiming damages of approximately £1.3bn. The court considered two issues: (i) an entirely novel point as to whether the court had the power to award security for costs in favour of an interested party joined to the proceedings in that capacity; (ii) whether a parent company with limited assets may rely upon evidence of its control over a wholly owned subsidiary with substantial assets in order to avoid a determination that an order for security for costs should be made against it. The court held
