PARIS, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Demand for the initial public offering of French national lottery operator Francaise des Jeux (FDJ) is very strong, with retail investors having subscribed for 1 billion euros ($1.10 billion) in shares, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sunday.

"As I speak there are ... 1 billion euros in retail investors subscriptions. It is a tremendous popular success," Le Maire told BFM television.

The government began the flotation process on Thursday, as it looks to sell down its majority stake in FDJ in France's biggest wave of privatisations in more than a decade.

The share sale is expected to raise up to 1.7 billion euros for the state and about a third of it has been earmarked for retail investors.

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