AUSTIN, Texas, April 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Lottery.com (the “Company”), a leading platform that allows its users to play the lottery online, announced today that Katie Lever has been appointed the Company’s first chief legal officer, who will be further supported by gaming compliance experts on the board of advisors, Mark Lipparelli and Ron Hopkinson. The Company is seeking to continue its expansion efforts and will leverage the combined legal and compliance expertise of these industry professionals to build the future of digital gaming.
Lever previously served as General Counsel to some of the gaming industry’s largest global suppliers, including through the mergers of SHFL entertainment, Inc., Bally Technologies, Inc., Scientific Games Corp. and, most recently, as Chief Legal Counsel to Drew Las Vegas, a planned $4 billion integrated resort and casino on the Las Vegas Strip. She is a recognized gaming law specialist and an expert in compliance and government relations. Lever is a board member of Global Gaming Women and a Director and Audit Chair of Bank of George. Her track record also includes serving as the first Executive Vice President and General Counsel for Everi Holdings Inc.
“Katie is a seasoned expert in our highly regulated field and brings broad strategic leadership and experience to our team,” said Lottery.com CEO Tony DiMatteo. “We look forward to Katie’s guidance as we begin a new chapter as a public company and expand both domestically and internationally. I speak for the whole team when I say that we are thrilled to have her setting the course for the regulatory future of our industry.”
Through her 25 years of legal experience and demonstrated successes, Lever has been recognized as one of the “Great Women of Gaming, Proven Leader,” by Casino Enterprise Magazine, listed on the “25 People to Watch” and “Top Ten Women in Gaming” by Global Gaming Business Magazine, a “Woman to Watch,” by Vegas, Inc., and inducted into the Nevada Women’s Hall of Fame.
As CLO, Lever will navigate Lottery.com’s expansion as a public company in the gaming industry, leading the charge on the Company’s legal, compliance, and regulatory requirements.
“I am very excited to join the Lottery.com team at this exciting phase of the Company’s growth,” said Lever. “I am looking forward to leading our legal and compliance efforts as the Company continues to build on its success in a variety of new and innovative ways.”
Alongside Katie, Lottery.com has a deep bench of legal acumen and advisory board members, including Ron Hopkinson and Sen. Mark Lipparelli.
Prior to joining Cooley LLP as a senior partner in the Private Equity group, Hopkinson was Global Head of Private Equity for both Latham & Watkins and Cadwalader. He has played a significant role in some of the largest leveraged buyouts and high-profile private equity transactions consummated in the marketplace on behalf of some of the world’s largest private equity firms and private equity consortiums.
Ron earned his JD from Harvard Law School (Cum Laude) and BA in Economics from Harvard College (Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude). He was selected by The American Lawyer as “Dealmaker of the Year” (2003).
Lipparelli is the founder of Gioco Ventures, LLC, a strategic advisor to clients worldwide in the gaming, entertainment, investment and sports industries. With over 25 years of gaming and entertainment industry experience in various senior level capacities, he is frequently engaged in projects and advocacy on a wide range of gaming, technology, and public policy.
Lipparelli currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Galaxy Gaming, Inc. and serves on the Board of Directors of Golden Entertainment, in addition to serving as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Center for Responsible Gaming, a Co-Moderator of the Executive Development Program and is a co-founder of the International Center for Gaming Regulation at UNLV. He has also completed a four-year term on the Nevada State Gaming Control Board, including his final two years as Chairman, and was named as Regulator of the Year for the Americas by the International Masters of Gaming Law.
Lipparelli graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with an undergraduate degree in Finance, Master of Science degree in Economics, and is a graduate of the Executive Development Program sponsored by the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming.
On February 22, 2021, the Company entered into a definitive agreement with Trident Acquisitions Corp. (Nasdaq: TDACU, TDAC, TDACW) to become a publicly-traded company on The Nasdaq Stock Market. Trident and the Company intend to publish an investor presentation relating to the proposed business combination in the coming weeks.
About Lottery.com
Lottery.com is an Austin, TX-based company enabling consumers to play state-sanctioned lottery games from their home or on the go in the US and internationally. The Company works closely with state regulators to advance the lottery industry, providing increased revenues and better regulatory capabilities, while capturing untapped market share, including millennial players. Lottery.com is also gamifying charitable giving to fundamentally change how nonprofits engage with their donors and raise funds. Through their WinTogether.org platform, they offer charitable donation sweepstakes to incentivize donors to take action by offering once in a lifetime experiences and large cash prizes.
Important Information and Where to Find it
In connection with the proposed business combination, Trident Acquisitions Corp. (“Trident”), expects to file a registration statement on Form S-4 (the “Registration Statement”) that will include a preliminary proxy statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for the solicitation of proxies from Trident’s shareholders. Additionally, Trident will file other relevant materials with the SEC in connection with the proposed business combination. Copies may be obtained free of charge at the SEC’s web site at www.sec.gov. A definitive proxy statement will be mailed to Trident shareholders as of a record date to be established for voting on the proposed business combination. Investors and security holders of Trident are urged to read the Registration Statement and the other relevant materials when they become available before making any voting decision with respect to the proposed business combination because they will contain important information about the business combination and the parties to the business combination. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, the websites referenced in this press release is not incorporated by reference into, and is not a part of, this press release.
Forward Looking Statements
The information in this press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of present or historical fact included in this presentation, regarding the proposed business combination between Trident and Lottery.com, Trident and the Company’s ability to consummate the transactions, the benefits of the transactions, the Company’s estimated growth, operational and state expansion, and the combined company’s future financial performance, as well as the combined company’s strategy, future operations, estimated financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, the words “could,” “should,” “will,” “may,” “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” the negative of such terms and other similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such identifying words. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions about future events and are based on currently available information as to the outcome and timing of future events. Except as otherwise required by applicable law, the Company disclaims any duty to update any forward-looking statements, all of which are expressly qualified by the statements in this section, to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release. The Company cautions you that these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of either Trident or the Company. In addition, the Company cautions you that the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are subject to the following factors: (i) the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstances that could delay the business combination or give rise to the termination of the agreements related thereto; (ii) the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Trident or the Company following announcement of the proposed business combination; (iii) the inability to complete the business combination due to the failure to obtain approval of the stockholders of Trident, or other conditions to closing in the business combination agreement; (iv) the risk that the proposed business combination disrupts the Company’s current plans and operations as a result of the announcement of the transactions; (v) the Company’s ability to realize the anticipated benefits of the business combination, which may be affected by, among other things, competition and the ability of the Company to grow and manage growth profitably following the business combination; (vi) costs related to the business combination; (vii) risks related to the rollout of the Company’s business and the timing of expected business milestones; (viii) the Company’s dependence on obtaining and maintaining lottery retail licenses or consummating partnership agreements in various markets; (ix) the Company’s ability to maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting, including the remediation of identified material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting relating to segregation of duties with respect to, and access controls to, its financial record keeping system, and the Company’s accounting staffing levels; (x) the effects of competition on the Company’s future business; (xi) risks related to the Company’s dependence on its intellectual property and the risk that the Company’s technology could have undetected defects or errors; (xii) changes in applicable laws or regulations; (xiii) the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on the Company and the economy generally; (xiv) risks related to disruption of management time from ongoing business operations due to the proposed business combination; (xv) risks relating to privacy and data protection laws, privacy or data breaches, or the loss of data; and (xvi) the possibility that the Company may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Should one or more of the risks or uncertainties described in this press release materialize or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results and plans could differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning these and other factors that may impact the operations and projections discussed herein can be found in the reports that Trident has filed and will file from time to time with the SEC, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019. Trident’s SEC filings are available publicly on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
Participants in the Solicitation
Trident and its directors and officers may be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies of Trident’s shareholders in connection with the proposed business combination. Lottery.com and its officers and directors may also be deemed participants in such solicitation. Security holders may obtain more detailed information regarding the names, affiliations and interests of certain of Trident’s executive officers and directors in the solicitation by reading Trident’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, and the Proxy Statement and other relevant materials filed with the SEC in connection with the business combination when they become available. Information concerning the interests of Trident’s participants in the solicitation, which may, in some cases, be different than those of their stockholders generally, will be set forth in the proxy statement relating to the business combination when it becomes available.
No Offer or Solicitation
This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or constitute a solicitation of any vote or approval.
Lottery.com Contact:
Cody Billingsley
(512) 537-5713
cody@lottery.com
