Last week, the shareholders of Kindred Group sanctioned the €2.4bn takeover of the gambling group by Française des Jeux (FDJ).
And on the latest episode of iGaming Daily, SBC’s Project Director, Martyn Elliott, was joined by Ted Menmuir, Content Director for SBC, and Conor Porter, Senior Journalist at CasinoBeats, to talk about what the deal means for the Western European gaming market.
Ted explained that FDJ will use the deal for “transforming themselves into a Euro champion”, completing one of its Paris Euronext objectives. The acquisition sees FDJ acquire Kindred’s portfolio of online casino and online sportsbooks, led by Unibet, 32Red and Maria Casino.
Focusing more on the online casino space, Conor said: “It’s a situation of expanding the horizons for FDJ across Europe. That’s something that’s been on the agenda since the move was initially announced back in January.
“It expands on that and puts FDJ in competition with the likes of Entain, Evoke, and Flutter when it comes to the online casino sector. At the moment, France is still limited with its online casino, but elsewhere across Europe FDJ now has a stake in other markets, including the UK.”
Kindred’s performance as a group peaked in 2021 and since then it has failed to return to those heights year-on-year. As a result, Ted questioned whether the acquisition could help to refresh Kindred’s brands.
He added: “Viewing this from the initial standpoints, the interesting elements are what is going to get integrated from Kindred’s operations and their portfolio brands with FDJ. Also, I think FDJ views Kindred as a platform to get a podium place in Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden. It’s very much a marriage of needs.”
The Kindred and FDJ deal is not the only major acquisition in Europe in recent weeks. Last month, Flutter Entertainment reached definitive terms with Playtech Plc to acquire the Italian-based online gambling operator Snaitech for €2.3bn.
“They’re two very different deals,” explained Ted. “Flutter are paying a premium to acquire Snaitech and they’re betting on the exponential growth of Italy’s online gambling market as it transitions from retail to online as it’s being reorganised by the government.
“FDJ’s deal is more out of necessity for the company to evolve beyond France and also beyond its lottery segment.
“For me, I think Flutter takes the riskier play on Snaitech, while FDJ is going to be more conservative as it still sees them expand into new markets via Kindred subsidiaries. Also, for Flutter, I believe that the deal is riskier because they are banking on the Italian government to get it right.”
