By acquiring the Swedish Kindred for 2.6 billion euros, including the sports betting brand Unibet, La Française des Jeux will operate a full range of games of chance and gambling. And it is also changing its dimension in Europe.
On September 7, in his midnight blue tuxedo jacket, Christophe Beaugrand launches the seventh edition of the heritage lottery. In the second basement of an anonymous building in Boulogne-Billancourt where the studios of the Française des Jeux are located, the star presenter of TF1 lists the numbers of the balls sliding into the transparent tube. That evening, there is no jackpot winner. But a week later, Friday, September 13, it is a lucky day for the historic operator of the national lottery. With a few adjustments, the Competition Authority has just given him the green light to buy the Swedish Kindred and its well-known sports betting brand Unibet in France.
This acquisition for 2.6 billion euros – the equivalent of its annual turnover – will consolidate its position as number two in gambling and games of chance in Europe. “It will be a new group”says Stéphane Pallez, its CEO for a decade. It is also the entire sector that will be turned upside down.
Reinforced weight with a full range of games
Because at the end of this friendly takeover bid, the FDJ will cover all the “verticals”: soon to be number three in sports betting in France with Unibet and ParionsSport, it is also present in horse racing betting on the Internet after the recent acquisition of ZEturf. And the group will become a major operator of online casinos in Europe, Kindred’s main activity. Moreover, the weight of the international will reach 20% of its sales with the integration of the Swedish company, against 6% previously.
To validate this major transformation, the Competition Authority is however requiring the FDJ, which still holds the monopoly on sports betting at the point of sale and that of the lottery (its scratch games like Illiko and its draw games like EuroMillions) for 20 years, to erect a Chinese wall between protected activities and those in competition. In concrete terms, a player will not be able to use the same account or the same app […]
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- challenges.fr
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