Brussels, 22/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has approved the planned acquisition by the Italian company Lottomatica of its competitor GTECH, a US company active in the gaming and betting sectors. GTECH is one of the worldwide leading operators in the gambling sector, operating traditional lotteries and video lottery terminals and it supplies complete gaming systems. Lottomatica is one of the leading operators in the lotteries and gambling sector in Italy. Its parent company De Agostini is essentially active in the media, publishing, financial and insurance sectors. The investigation focused on the markets for gaming and betting where Lottomatica is involved and its exclusive operation of the Lotto game in Italy, from where the company gets most of its revenue. Cogetech S.p.A., is a GECH joint venture active only in the video lottery terminal sector in Italy. The investigation revealed that players do not regard traditional games like Lotto as alternatives to video lottery terminals. The market will remain competitive due to the presence of a number of suppliers. The provisions of Italian legislation governing state concessions in the field of gaming prevent Lottomatica from owning two concessions in the area of video lottery terminals. As a consequence, Lottomatica has declared that it shall divest the GTECH stake in Cogetech. The Commission has concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA).