• A European gaming champion and a top player in the French Online Betting & Gaming markets opened to competition
    • The new group will be among the top 3 operators in Europe’s gaming sector with an enhanced financial profile on the basis of the 2023 GGR (Gross Gaming Revenue[1]).
    • In France, through this acquisition, added to the acquisition of ZEbet in September 2023, FDJ group will become the third largest operator in the online sports betting and gaming open to competition sector (sports betting, horse racing and poker) (source: FDJ; on the basis of 2023 GGR). In France, FDJ is a main leading gaming operator, and has exclusive rights to operate offline and online lottery, and offline sports betting.
  • A balanced group in terms of activities, markets and distribution channels
    • With this acquisition being completed, FDJ’s international presence will expand to account for approximately 26% of its revenue, compared to 4% currently.
    • Kindred’s cutting-edge digital expertise and technology platforms will accelerate FDJ’s digitalization – The online share of revenue is expected to rise from 12% for FDJ to 34% for the combined group.  Online Betting and Gaming (OB&G) markets open to competition is expected to account for approximately 27% of the revenue, versus 3% before the acquisition, while business under exclusive rights (France & Ireland) will account for 69% of combined Group Revenue.
  • A unique responsible gaming approach
    • The combined group will operate only on markets that are locally regulated or on the path of becoming regulated, meaning that the group is going to exit of all the markets on which it operates on a non-locally regulated basis. The locally regulated footprint includes in particular Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Denmark, Romania, Italy, Estonia and Australia while in Finland there is a clear path to regulation.
    • FDJ and Kindred are the sole gaming / gambling operators having committed themselves with clear objectives to reduce part of their revenues from high risks players
  • A combined group to benefit from significantly stronger revenue and earnings growth with a strengthen financial profile
    • Kindred’s growth and earnings profile is very consistent with FDJ ones
    • As from FY 2025, Kindred will have an accretive impact on combined group growth with:
      • enhanced revenue, recurring EBITDA and Free Cash Flows growth, e.g. a yearly acceleration of revenue growth by more than 50 basis points;
      • a significant increase in the Group’s earnings per share and earnings growth.
    • FDJ estimates[2] that it would have recorded combined revenue of around €3.5 billion and combined recurring EBITDA[3] of around €840 million for the full 2023 financial year if Kindred had been acquired on 1 January 2023, and combined revenue of €1.9 billion and combined recurring EBITDA of around €490 million for the first half of 2024 if Kindred had been acquired on 1 January 2024.
    • As soon as possible in 2025, the new group will present its activities with four business units :
FDJ Group operating model post Kindred integration
France Monooply

 

 

(FDJ : Lottery and point-of-sale sports betting)

 Competitive online betting & gaming

 

Kindred (B2C and Relax) + FDJ’s online sports betting & Poker & ZEturf

 International lottery

 

 

Premier Lotteries Ireland + Lottery B2B operations

 Payment & Services
~ 64%* ~ 30%* ~ 4%* ~ 2%*

* % of projected 2025 revenue

  • FDJ will finance this acquisition using a large part of its available cash and through a bridge loan with leading French and international banks. The FDJ Group:
    • Reiterates aiming a mid-term net debt to recurring EBITDA ratio of ≤2x.
    • Aims to refinance the bridge loan on attractive market terms[4]

 

 

[1] Gross gaming revenue = stakes – player winnings

[2] FDJ has estimated the combined revenue and recurring EBITDA for the 2023 financial year and for the first half of 2024 in order to illustrate the significant effects that the Kindred acquisition would have had on the FDJ Group if it had occurred on 1 January 2023 and 1 January 2024, respectively, and on the basis of the scope that would effectively be retained by FDJ. This scope was announced on 22 January 2024, with the planned exit of Norway and other .com sites, unless there is a clear opportunity for a local licence (for example, in Finland, where a draft bill aims to introduce a licensing system for online betting, online slot machines and casino games by early 2027). Kindred has also announced its gradual exit from the US market, completed by the end of the first half of 2024. As Kindred has not published any financial information on those markets in the scope of consolidation that the Group has announced it will not retain, FDJ has estimated Kindred’s revenue and recurring EBITDA in this consolidation scope for the 2023 financial year and for the first half of 2024 without taking into account potential synergies and exit costs and using a consistent presentation of revenue. This information has been prepared on the basis of Kindred’s IFRS financial statements, harmonizing the presentation of sales with that of the FDJ Group (i.e. the sum of net gaming income and income from other activities). The average EUR/GBP rate used is 0,865675 for 2023 and 0,854647 for the 1st half of 2024.

[3] Recurring EBITDA: recurring operating profit(/loss) adjusted for depreciation and amortisation expense.

[4] FDJ considers that the in-depth investigation by the European Commission into the remuneration paid by FDJ to the French State (€380 million) for securing exclusive rights for point-of-sale sports betting and for lottery (cf. 2023 Universal Registration Document p.189 and 359) should not result in a material impact on its financial situation as, according to FDJ, there are no element justifying that the consideration for the exclusive rights should exceed the upper part of the ranges submitted to the Commission des participations et des transferts in its opinion n°2019 – A.C. – 1 of 7 October 2019