French lottery operator FDJ rings boardroom changes

Groupe FDJ has announced the appointment of Françoise Gri as an independent director.

France.- Groupe FDJ has announced several boardroom changes affecting the governance of France’s national lottery operator Française des Jeux.

The group has confirmed the appointment of Françoise Gri, former chief executive of IBM France and ManPower Southern Europe as an independent director to replace Marie-Ange Debon for the rest of her tenure until 2023.

Gri has also served in directorships at Credit Agricole and has been a senior advisor to the French government on corporate governance duties. He will fulfil Debon’s duties on FDJ’s executive appointment and reward committees.

Meanwhile, independent director Pierre Pringuet, the former president of Pernod-Ricard, has been named as FDJ’s chairman of appointments and compensation.

Fabienne Dulac, the current deputy chief executive of Orange France, will manage FDJ’s corporate social responsibility and responsible gaming committees while current group operations executive David Chianese will lead employee representation and join the firm’s risk and audit committees.

The board of the Paris Euronext-listed group will be put to a shareholder vote in April.

The group is set to implement its commitment as lead sponsor of France’s teams for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympics this year.

It will also begin its role on the organising committee for the Paris 2024 Olympics, which will be the biggest sporting event France has held.

FDJ remains a lead sponsor of the Tour de France and France’s national football team

Last October, FDJ’s investment fund V13 Invest put funds into esports data supplier PandaScore.

The French gaming operator’s revenue for the first half of 2020 was down by 10.1 per cent due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic but stakes returned to 2019 levels by mid-June.