La Française des Jeux (FDJ), the official lottery operator of France and Ireland, has issued a statement announcing that the board of directors at Kindred Group have accepted its acquisition offer.
Back in January 2024, the FDJ submitted a bid of €2.45bn (£2.06bn/$2.70bn) for the acquisition of Kindred Group, with La Française des Jeux stating that it aims to create a “European gaming champion”, and with that, the second largest gambling operator in the Old Continent.
The offer by the FDJ came with several conditions, including that 90% of the shareholders at Kindred Group accept the offer. Right after submitting the bid, 27.9% of shareholders supported the offer, including Premier Investissement, Corvex Management, Nordea, Verdala Investment, and Eminence Capital.
The initial acceptance period imposed by the FDJ was set until the 19th of November, however, the French operator pushed the date to October 2nd with the goal of completing the deal earlier.
In light of the deadline, Kindred “unanimously” recommended that all shareholders accept the offer, given the lucrative nature of the deal.
Consequently, this proved rather successful, with FDJ reporting that 90.66% of all capital, or 195,659,291 Kindred Swedish Depository Receipts (SDRs), were presented by the second deadline on October 2nd. By then, FDJ had already obtained 2,400,000 SDRs from Veralda alone, a number which represents 1.11% of the entire Kindred holding.
The settlement for Kindred shareholders who have already tendered SDRs is set to start on the 11th of October, with FDJ starting the extraction process on Nasdaq Stockholm on the same date.
Finally, FDJ informed the remainder of the shareholders who are yet to tender their shares that they can do so until the 18th of October on the same, initial terms, with the final delivery being due on the 29th of October.
Stéphane Pallez, CEO and Chairwoman at FDJ commented on the acquisition, highlighting her delight in the prospect of finalizing the deal.
Moreover, Mrs. Pallez said that by joining forces with Kindred, Europe has a “new champion”, and that both companies can now look forward to “sustainable” and “profitable” growth.
Kindred has strong brands, recognized technological excellence and an attractive growth and profitability profile. All of this will bolster FDJ’s strengths. The two groups also share high standards for responsible gaming and a business model that combines performance and responsibility. This acquisition creates a new European champion. We intend to pursue its strategy of sustainable and profitable growth for the benefit of all its stakeholders.
