FDJ interested in UK National Lottery

The French company FDJ is reportedly interested in becoming the successor of Camelot, the current operator of the UK National Lottery.

UK.- The last couple of months have been extremely busy for Française des Jeux (FDJ) and the French government. The IPO was finalised in recent weeks, and while largely positive, the company doesn’t want to stop its reach there. Now, FDJ is reportedly interested in becoming the next operator of the UK National Lottery.

The governance of FDJ held private discussions with the Rothschild investment bank to evaluate which options it has to compete for the UK National Lottery 2020 licence, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The Rothschild investment bank is one of four strategic consultants appointed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) to support the 2020 offer structure and the bidding process, working in collaboration with the management consulting firm Deloitte, the EY auditor and the law firm Hogan Lovell.

Although UKGC has yet to reveal its official offer, numerous high-profile participants have been revealed, including Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group and newspaper magnate Richard Desmond, who confirmed that the Northern & Shell publishing group will launch an offer. Other European heavyweights looking at national lottery options include the Czech betting conglomerate SAZKA Group.

UK National Lottery set sales record in 2018-19

Camelot UK Lotteries, the operator of the UK National Lottery, generated a record €2.06 billion in digital sales in 2018-2019. The operator said that it grew sales through smartphones and tablets to an all-time high of €1 billion, accounting for 55% of all National Lottery sales.

These results come after continued investment and innovation in its digital presence – including ongoing improvements to the National Lottery mobile apps. Sales across The National Lottery’s range of scratch cards and online Instant Win Games also reached a record €3.4 billion, an increase of €326.9 million – following improvements to ensure a wide range of differently-priced products with varying themes, combined with better stock management processes.

Retail still remains the largest National Lottery sales channel, with nearly 75% of total sales coming through in-store terminals. it registered sales of €5.9 billion over that period, which is an increase of €83.1 million over last year.