Kindred’s Nils Andén to leave FDJ United as French gambling tax impact bites
CFO Pascal Chaffard will take on the role of chief online betting and gaming officer.
France.- The board of FDJ United has confirmed the resignation of Nils Andén as chief online betting and gaming officer at the Paris Euronext-listed gambling group. The former CEO of Kindred will be succeeded by CFO Pascal Chaffard, who will take charge of the company’s expanded online gambling division.
Andén was a key figure in the €2.5bn sale of Kindred to FDJ in October 2024. He was at Unibet for a decade from 2006 to 2016, and returned in 2020 after the company’s rebrand to Kindred. He was named interim CEO in 2023 following Henrik Tjärnström’s departure.
Soon after, he assumed permanent leadership responsibilities, steering the Stockholm-listed operator towards a greater focus on responsible gambling and regulated markets while seeking a sale amid saturation in the group’s core Nordic and Dutch markets.
FDJ’s leadership reshuffle has triggered a search for a new Group CFO to replace Chaffard as he steps into his new role. Meanwhile, chief regulatory officer Célia Vérot has expanded her remit, taking on the roles of general secretary and general counsel in addition to her existing duties.
The restructuring comes as FDJ enters the second year of integrating Kindred’s brands, systems, and platforms. Today, the company published 2025 results, which showed a 6 per cent decline in Group EBITDA to €902m, impacted by an increase in tax costs to €130m following the rise in gambling tax in France.
Profits fell to €176m, compared with €399m the previous year. Looking ahead, FDJ anticipates its tax burden will rise by another €90m in 2026, though projected cumulative savings have been revised upwards to around €150m.
Group CEO and chair Stéphane Pallez acknowledged the impact of taxation but said that FDJ remains ahead of schedule on all major integration milestones.
She said: “In 2025, FDJ UNITED demonstrated the strength of its model and continued its transformation, in an environment affected by tax increases and tighter regulations on gaming. With a strengthened performance plan and a new organization of its online betting and gaming business unit, the Group will continue to improve its operational efficiency to return to its profitable and sustainable growth path by 2026.”
The company also confirmed that ParionsSport will merge its online sportsbook into the Unibet.fr platform from March.
