Betting group Kindred will be acquired by La Française des Jeux for approximately €2.6 billion, creating one of Europe's largest online gambling entities. Shareholders will be offered SEK 130 per share, a 24% premium to the pre-announcement share price.

La Française des Jeux, commonly known as FDJ, based in France, currently owns the exclusive rights to operate lottery and offline sports betting in the country. In addition, it provides online sports betting and gambling. Listed on the Paris Stock Exchange, FDJ posted a 6% increase in profits in the half-year, reaching almost EUR1.3 billion, mainly driven by its lottery business. With this acquisition of Kindred, FDJ will gain access to a customer base of 30 million users engaged in online sports betting, casino and gambling. The combined annual gaming revenues of the two entities are expected to reach approximately EUR 8 billion.

Founded in 1997, Kindred represents nine gambling brands, including the Unibet platform, which offers sports betting, casino activities, poker and bingo in more than 100 countries. The acquisition concludes a lengthy sale process for Kindred that began in April last year. The decision to be sold was prompted by a significant decline in projected full-year sales and earnings for 2022, primarily due to the exit from the Netherlands, one of its core markets.