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Kindred Group, the leading online gambling company, confirmed on Sunday, Jan. 21, that it has received an acquisition bid from France's La Française des Jeux (FDJ), the operator of France's national lottery games. The negotiation is reportedly in the final stage, and it will see the latter paying $2.5 billion to buy the gaming giant in an all-cash deal.
According to Reuters, the companies will announce the offer before the market opens on Monday, Jan. 22. Kindred Group shared that FDJ will acquire its remaining share capital.
Pushing for Kindred's Sale
The acquisition plan of FDJ was already reported earlier. The negotiations came after Corvex Management LP, a hedge fund manager and activist investor based in New York, started pressing for a potential sale of an online gambling and gaming company. This pushed the board to approach several companies and private equity funds to place a bid.
Some groups contacted include Tipico, Apollo Global, Blackstone, Entain, and 888. However, none of the firms expressed interest, but later, FDJ entered the picture. Bloomberg reported that if the deal is successful, the merger will result in the formation of one of Europe's largest online gambling operators.
Update and FDJ's Confirmation of Bid
In the latest update about the acquisition, FDJ finally confirmed and released a statement regarding its plan to buy Kindred. The company said it will buy the French lottery operator to become a global gaming operator.
"I am pleased to announce today the proposed acquisition of Kindred. Fully aligned with our strategy, it will give the Group a diversified and balanced profile, based on several pillars: the monopoly activities, mainly the lottery, on our French historical market and, since November, in Ireland, with the acquisition of the Irish lottery operator PLI; and online sports betting and gaming activities open to competition in Europe," FDJ Group's chairwoman and chief executive officer, Stéphane Pallez, said in a press release.
She added, "Given their respective histories, strategic strengths and core values, FDJ and Kindred are highly complementary. The combination will result in a stronger strategic positioning and significant value creation for the benefit of our shareholders and broader stakeholders."
Kindred's CEO, Nils Andén, commented, "I believe that combining with FDJ, Kindred can accelerate the delivery of long-term strategic projects, continue to grow in core markets, and provide a trusted source of entertainment to customers."
Photo by: Kindred Press Release
