French antitrust authorities have sanctioned the planned $2.7 billion purchase of the Stockholm-listed online gaming behemoth the Kindred Group by Française des Jeux (FDJ), the lottery monopoly of France. 

Cependant, l'autorité de régulation l’Autorité de la Concurrence a insisté sur la nécessité d'une séparation nette entre les activités commerciales de la FDJ et son activité monopolistique. This implies that FDJ, once a state-owned entity, will not be allowed to promote Kindred’s products to its customers who play the lottery and engage in sports betting. 

Additionally, it should not "have a shared origin or logo with the FDJ or Parions Sport Point de Vente brands, or any other brand under which FDJ promotes its monopoly games in France," stated l’Autorité de la Concurrence. Players must register individually for accounts with FDJ and Kindred brands. 

Not doing so would provide FDJ with an unfair edge over competing commercial operators, the regulator determined. 

Monopoly Currency 

Kindred, previously known as Unibet Group, possesses some of the most recognized online casino and sports betting brands in Europe, such as Unibet and 32Red. 

FDJ, France's largest gambling operator, underwent privatization in 2018 when the French government divested 50% of its stake. In November 2023, the firm purchased Ireland's national lottery operator, Premier Lotteries Ireland, positioning it as the second-largest lottery operator in Europe and the fourth-largest in the world. 

In October of last year, FDJ finalized its purchase of the online horse racing betting platform ZEturf, which was the sole sector of the gambling market it had not yet penetrated. ZEturf is also liable to be separated from the monopolistic brands of the company. 

ZEturf's primary rival is, amusingly, the retail horse racing betting monopoly in France, Pari-Mutuel Urbain (PMU). In 2020, l’Autorité de la Concurrence imposed a €900K fine on PMU for not separating its land-based and online customers. 

This came after ZEturf lodged a complaint stating that PMU’s co-mingling of the two channels gave it an unfair edge over other operators providing horse racing pools. 

‘Champion of Gaming’ 

After the announcement of Kindred's takeover attempt in January, FDJ Chair Stéphane Pallez stated that the agreement would establish a “European gaming champion.” 

In a rather critical comment, Regulus Partners implied that Kindred's true appeal lies in its ability to channel surplus cash flow from a privatized state monopoly into an already established competitive platform that the stagnant, government-run FDJ was unable to develop on its own.