FDJ to focus on B2C as it seeks B2B exit
FDJ-Sporting Solutions, PMU-Flutter, Betsson Benelux M&A
Hello, on Gaming&Co today:
FDJ set to focus on core B2C activities with sale of Sporting Souutions.
PMU and Flutter renew sportsbook partnership.
Betsson continues Benelux expansion with Holland Gaming deal.
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FDJ puts Sporting Solutions up for sale
French gambling giant to focus on B2C as it seeks B2B exit.
Back to B2C: La Francaise des Jeux has put its B2B division Sporting Solutions up for sale and is looking for a buyer for the company it acquired in 2019 for an undisclosed sum. Gaming&Co understands that the French group recruited London-based M&A specialists Oakvale Partners around two months ago to lead the search for a buyer.
The move comes five years after FDJ’s acquisition of the Sporting Group as it was then called and is part of its plan to focus on core B2C activities and grow its international footprint.
Shopping spree: In the past 12 months the French lottery and OSB operator has acquired the Irish lottery group Premier Lotteries Ireland, the French online horse racing and sports betting brand ZETurf and in late January tabled a €2.5bn bid for Unibet’s parent company Kindred Group.
That offer puts a 24% premium on Kindred’s current share price and is set for review by France’s regulatory authorities over the next nine months.
No surprises: News of a potential Sporting Solutions sale is not a major surprise. For some time sources close to both companies have expressed misgivings about the fit between the two groups and issues like the lack of integration of Sporting Solutions’ technology into the FDJ structure.
Culture clash: It also comes amid rumours of poor relations between FDJ’s French executives seconded to work with Solutions' London-based UK teams. Those however have been denied by the sources.
The UK group was also not mentioned amid all the talk of the Kindred acquisition and despite delays to the rollout of the Swedish group's in-house sportsbook. In the long term FDJ's strategy will see it move onto Kindred's platform once it is ready. In the meantime, Kindred entered into a three-year contract with betting solution provider Kambi at the start of this year.
Sporting Solutions’ most recent FY22 results showed that gross profit rose 7% to £11.7m but EBITDA losses shot up to £8.5m from £2.5m in 2021. The group said the rise in data and operating costs, the latter rising 45% to nearly £24m in the period, were the main reasons for the losses.
The group said measures would be taken in 2023 to “review the cost base and improve both operational efficiency and profitability”.
Since its privatisation in 2019, FDJ has embarked on an aggressive growth and M&A strategy, its proposed takeover of Kindred being the most prominent example of that policy. Publishing its 2023 results last week, FDJ recorded a 6.5% rise in FY23 revenues to €6.5bn and noted that its online NGR now made up 13% (~€338m) of its total NGR of €2.5bn.
FDJ, Sporting Solutions and Oakvale Partners were contacted for comment but did not respond.
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PMU and Flutter extend B2B sportsbook partnership
Sign up renewal: Flutter Entertainment and PMU have renewed the B2B sportsbook partnership they started working on in 2010 when France’s regulated online sports betting market went live.
Flutter said it will continue providing PMU with fixed odds pricing, trading and risk management services and PMU will be “the first external brand outside of the Flutter Group to operate on this unique solution”, said the UK and US-listed group.
Emmanuel Vacher, e-commerce Director at PMU, said: “In sports betting, we were looking to simplify our architecture through a turnkey solution and to concentrate our efforts on Marketing and CRM. Flutter’s offering meets this need (and) our common objective is to have within PMU.fr a leading sports betting offer, services and user experience - such as for horseracing - and to gain market share”.
Betsson goes for €27.5m Dutch double deal
Lowlands for casino highs: Betsson has continued its expansion strategy in the Benelux region with the acquisition of the Netherlands-licensed operator Holland Gaming Technology and its casino games studio Holland Power Gaming for a total consideration of €27.5m. Betsson has paid €16m upfront and will pay €9m and €2.5m in six and 12 months respectively.
The acquisition, which will be financed from Betsson’s balance sheet and will see the Swedish group incorporate Holland Gaming’s online casino brands Goldruncasino.nl and Goldruncasino.com, needs to be approved by the Dutch gambling regulator KSA.
Betsson said the deal will “contribute to a higher share of revenue from locally regulated markets” and fits in with its ambition to “deliver profitable growth through geographic expansion”.
The transaction is the second acquisition that Betsson has carried out in the Benelux region recently. In June 2023 it acquired the Belgian bookmaker BETFirst for €120m and signed a B2B deal to supply online casino games to the Partouche casino group.
Last week it announced that it had partnered with Partouche’s Middelkerke Casino resort and scheduled a Belgian online casino launch on H125. The group also launched its sportsbook brand in France during Q4.
Calendar
Feb 20: Caesars Entertainment
Feb 21: Raketech, Kambi
Feb 22: Acroud, Better Collective
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