In its report on the Kindred deal, the Competition Authority expressed concerns over FDJ promoting and cross selling Kindred’s products to monopoly customers, as this could increase player risks.
FDJ previously addressed similar concerns in its acquisition bid for ZEturf’s French operations, which included its ZEBet brand and ZEtote technology, offering horse racing and racing pools.
The monopoly operator pledged to keep its commercial and monopoly brands separate, including separate websites for monopoly and commercial activities and separate player databases. This means players will have to sign up separately for accounts with FDJ and Kindred brands such as Unibet.
FDJ reiterated its commitment to maintain separate brands and businesses after absorbing Kindred’s betting and casino products. It also pledged, in its acquisition of Kindred, to not display the well-known FDJ logo or branding across any of its commercial products.
From a customer perspective, Kindred’s French players are unlikely to be aware of the operator’s new ownership, FDJ said.
French monopolies under scrutiny
That separation of monopoly activities and commercial gaming has long been a contentious issue in France. FDJ and retail horse race betting monopoly Pari-Mutuel Urbain (PMU) were previously accused of abusing their monopoly positions to compete against private operators.
FDJ, for example, is yet to separate its land-based monopoly database from its online database. However it pledged to do so in January this year in the wake of land-based casino operators writing to then-Prime Minister Yvan Attal to complain.
The business also faces a European Commission investigation over a €380m payment covering 25-year lottery and retail sports betting monopolies, and whether this constitutes illegal state aid. Two complaints filed in 2021 prompted the Commission to take up the matter, and it is yet to make a final ruling.
PMU also combined its online and in-person liquidity until it was forced to split out the channels following a lawsuit brought by ZEturf and Betclic Everest Group. While PMU committed to the split as far back as 2013, it was fined €900,000 by the Competition Authority in 2020 for failing to do so.
Monopoly issues stretch beyond France
A similar discussion has been raised in Finland as it prepares to liberalise its online gambling market and allows its Veikkaus monopoly to compete against licensed operators.
Various stakeholders have warned the Finnish government that Veikkaus should not be able to cross-sell its monopoly customers to its commercial products, as it could present a major competitive advantage against other licensees. Veikkaus has a 2.5 million-strong customer database.
FDJ builds a European empire
When FDJ struck a deal to acquire Kindred for €2.45bn in January 2024, it said the combination would create a “European gaming champion” and provide it with stronger revenue and earnings growth.
The group said it was seeking to diversify its lottery offering and enter the commercial online gambling market. This followed the ZEturf deal, and the acquisition of Premier Lotteries Ireland.
“Kindred is definitely one of the leading online betting and gaming operators, so it is a major asset to give us the necessary size and quality to be present in this online betting and gaming sector,” Stéphane Pallez, FDJ managing director, told iGB in March.