Prospective bidders for the majority stake in National Lottery operator Camelot - said to be more than 20 - have been told that offers must be in by 18 November. The deadline has been extended due to delays in documentation.

Four of the five equal shareholders in Camelot - Cadbury, Thales Electronics, De La Rue and Fujitsu - have appointed NM Rothschild and Greenhill & Co. to put their stakes up for sale. The fifth, Royal Mail, says it is not selling although it could decide to sell to a winning bidder once the auction is over. Potential bidders are said to include private equity bodies; foreign lottery operators, such as Sugal & Damani which bid for the current license two years ago; and Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group, whose People's Lottery bid has lost out twice in the past.

Camelot makes around £30m (US$50.3m, 33.5m euro) per year from running the Lottery, with sales in the year to March 2009 exceeding £5.1bn (US$8.5bn, 5.7bn euro).