French gambling giant FDJ can keep lottery and sport betting monopoly but must pay €97m

The European Commission has ruled that FDJ did not receive unfair state aid but should have paid more for its monopoly.

France.- The European Commission (EC) has ruled that the French gambling giant La Française des Jeux (FDJ) should pay an additional €97m for its exclusive lottery and retail sports betting rights in France. The operator’s 25-year monopoly following its 2019 privatisation led the EC to launch an investigation in 2021.

Two complaints to the EC had argued that the French government’s decision to favour FDJ constituted illegal state aid. The EC has ruled that this was not the case. However, it has decided that the €380m that the FDJ paid for its monopoly rights was too little and that it must pay another €97m to take the total to €477m.

FDJ has been expanding aggressively with a series of major acquisitions in the last two years, including the Irish National Lottery operator Premier Lotteries Ireland and the Swedish online gambling operator Kindred, owner of the Unibet brand.

The company welcomed the EC’s decision. It said the equalisation payment would be recognised as an intangible asset in financial results and would be amortised over 25 years. Future dividend payments will be based on the adjusted net profit.

It said: “We welcome the closure of this investigation and the European Commission’s confirmation, in line with the French Council of State’s decision of 14 April 2023, that the legal framework adopted when the group was privatised was robust. FDJ has also taken note of the additional equalisation amount, valued by the European Commission at €97m. The equalisation payment re-evaluated at €477m is within the range established by the Participation and Transfer Commission in October 2019.”