Good news, folks! France’s competition authority, l’Autorité de la Concurrence, just gave the nod to our national lottery powerhouse, Française des Jeux (FDJ), to scoop up the online horse racing betting sensation, ZeTurf Group. 🇫🇷💼
But hold your horses! 🐎 FDJ isn’t just trotting into this deal without some tweaks and changes. Let’s break it down for you:
1️⃣ FDJ is breaking up with its monopoly and competitive gaming activities. Separation time, baby! No more monopoly mingling with the competition.
2️⃣ They’re opening the gates for all French licensed operators to dive into the pool of horse racing bets they’re managing. Cannonball! 💦
L’Autorité, the competition guru, spilled the beans on why they were worried. It wasn’t about FDJ and ZeTurf’s small slice of the sports betting pie. Nope! It’s because FDJ wears the crown for lottery games and retail sports betting.
Imagine if they played dirty by pushing online horse racing and sports betting to their monopoly squad? 😏
Or if they had a one-size-fits-all customer account for everything? That’s just not cricket!
But wait, there’s more! 🍿
They also pointed out the thorny issue of horse racing betting pools. The new dynamic duo could make it tough for rivals to get in on the action and even kick competitor’s bets to the curb. Not cool!
L’Autorité said, “Hold your horses, we can’t ignore these conglomerate effects.”
So, FDJ had to make some promises:
1️⃣ Separate websites and apps for monopoly and competition. No more secret rendezvous!
2️⃣ No common gateway or homepage. They’re keeping it separate like Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child.
3️⃣ Player accounts? They’re keeping those separate too. No sneaky mix and match!
4️⃣ No using monopoly player data for their competitive gaming shenanigans. That’s a big no-no!
5️⃣ Retail outlets and online lottery hubs are off-limits for promoting competition. Separate social media accounts and some training for the sales team – all for keeping things chill.
6️⃣ FDJ is even putting a ring on it with a dedicated business subsidiary to keep that distance between activities.
Oh, and here’s the icing on the cake: FDJ is throwing the door wide open for competitors to join their gaming pool party. 🎉💃
Now, remember when FDJ and ZeTurf announced their whirlwind romance in November 2022? FDJ was ready to drop €175.0m on ZeTurf, with an extra bonus depending on how well ZeTurf behaved in 2023. Talk about high stakes dating!
ZeTurf, the second biggest horse racing operator in France with a 20% market share, is joining the FDJ family. They’ve got a hundred dedicated staff and brought in €50.0m in 2021. 🤑
So, there you have it, folks! FDJ and ZeTurf’s love story has a happy ending, with a competition twist. Stay tuned for more juicy updates in the French gambling scene! 🇫🇷🎰
