Berjaya’s Vietnam lottery venture has first $4 million winner

October 18, 2016 | 20:41

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A farmer in the southern province of Tra Vinh has won the biggest jackpot ever offered by Mega 6/45 lottery operated by Malaysian conglomerate Berjaya Corporation Bhd.’s Vietnamese lottery venture.

photo source Zing

On October 16, the man was announced to have won VND92.03 billion ($4.04 million), subject to a 10 per cent tax.

This is the biggest jackpot amount ever after 39 draws since Mega 6/45’s debut in July. The prize value has been reset to the original value of VND12 billion ($540,000).

In July, Berjaya, through its subsidiary Berjaya Gia Thinh Investment (Berjaya GTI), launched the first phase of its Vietnamese lottery business.

Berjaya had won over five international companies to become the first foreign investor to tap into the Vietnamese lottery market in January. Accordingly, Berjaya and Vietnam Lottery One-member Limited Liability Company (Vietlott), the only company in Vietnam authorised to sell computerised lottery tickets, were awarded a $210.58-million, 18-year contract to exclusively invest in and operate a computerised lottery project.

Mega 6/45 is the first product rolled out by Berjaya GTI. Other products that will be on offer are Lotto Games, Digit Games, and Fast Draw Games, which will be distributed through various channels, such as computerised terminals, telephones and mobile phones, and the internet.

In Mega 6/45 players have to select six numbers from 1 to 45, and can win the jackpot, starting at VND12 billion ($540,000), by matching all six winning numbers from the draw. The jackpot prize keeps growing until there is a winner. Each ticket costs VND10,000 (40 cents).

Vietlott deputy general director Nguyen Thanh Dam told local media that from the beginning of the year to the end of September, the company earned VND159 billion ($7.1 million) in revenue. He added that 55 per cent of the revenue is put into a fund used exclusively to cover the prizes. After paying tax and commission to agencies and a part of the revenue to the state budget, the company has not made profit in the past three months.