How Karel built the fortune
Karel Komárek's business career began in South Moravia, the Czech region around Hodonín where oil and gas have been produced for decades. In the 1990s, after the end of communism opened the economy to private enterprise, he worked with his father in companies linked to the energy sector, and over time gained control of MND, a Czech firm that drills for and produces oil and gas and operates gas storage. Energy gave him a profitable, cash generating base and the capital to look for larger opportunities.
The decisive move came in 2011, when Komárek's group took over Sazka, the Czech national lottery operator, which had gone through insolvency. He restructured the business and then used it as a platform for expansion abroad. The group bought into the Greek gaming company OPAP, built a controlling position in Casinos Austria and its lottery business, and acquired a stake in the Italian lotto operator. In 2022 the gaming business was rebranded as Allwyn, and the same year it bought Camelot, the long time operator of the UK National Lottery. Allwyn won the licence to run the UK lottery and took over operation in February 2024.
Lotteries suit Komárek's investment style. They operate under long licences, have predictable demand and generate strong cash flows that can fund further acquisitions. Allwyn's growth from a single Czech lottery into a multinational business accounts for most of the value of his holdings.
The expansion was not always smooth. Building control of Casinos Austria took several years of negotiation with other shareholders, including the Austrian state holding company, and the British lottery licence process involved a legal challenge from the previous operator. In each case Komárek's group stayed with the investment and eventually secured the position it wanted, a pattern that has defined KKCG's approach to regulated industries.
Companies and holdings
Komárek's investments are held through KKCG, which he founded and controls. Its main parts are:
- Allwyn, a lottery and gaming group with operations in Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece and Cyprus, Italy and the United Kingdom
- MND Group, active in oil and gas exploration and production, gas storage and energy trading
- KKCG Technologies, which includes IT companies such as Autocont and Cleverlance
- real estate developments, mainly in the Czech Republic
Allwyn has continued to expand, including moves into North American gaming and a plan to combine with OPAP in a single listed company. KKCG also invests in new energy and technology ventures, which it presents as part of a long term diversification away from fossil fuels.
Early life and career
Komárek was born in March 1969 in Hodonín, in what was then Czechoslovakia. He grew up in the region during the final decades of communist rule and was in his early twenties when the Velvet Revolution of 1989 brought market reforms. Like many Czech entrepreneurs of his generation, he took advantage of the opening of the economy and the privatisation of state enterprises during the 1990s.
He began in businesses close to home, connected with the local oil and gas industry and with construction work for energy infrastructure, and gradually consolidated them under his own investment group. Building MND into a significant energy company in the 2000s established him as one of the leading Czech investors, and the Sazka deal in 2011 put him on an international path. He later moved his residence to Switzerland, while KKCG keeps strong operations in Prague.
Philanthropy and public life
Komárek's philanthropy is organised mainly through the Karel Komárek Family Foundation, which supports education, culture and talented young people in the Czech Republic, as well as social projects. The family has backed music and arts programmes, scholarships and initiatives aimed at children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
He also supports Czech sport, and Sazka has long been tied to funding sport through lottery proceeds. Komárek rarely engages in party politics and gives relatively few interviews, though he has spoken about corporate responsibility in the gaming industry, where operators are expected to promote responsible play and contribute to good causes.
Through KKCG he has also supported Czech institutions in culture and science, and the group publishes reports on the social contributions made by its lottery companies in each country.