The European Commission has instituted an investigation to see if La Française des Jeux violated EU laws when it received exclusive rights to run the lottery in France for 25 years, according to iGaming Business.
FDJ has retained the rights since its founding, at first for an indefinite time as it represented a government monopoly. But in 2019, the business was privatized with a €1.89 billion initial public offering. At that point, FDJ paid €380 million (US$448.4 million) for the exclusive rights to offer lotteries and retail betting.
The arrangement led to a pair of complaints.
European law says member states may not give any advantage to “specific companies or industry sectors, or to companies located in specific regions” in a way that affects trade through interventions such as tax rates.
“The commission will verify the conformity of the remuneration with market conditions and will not exclude at this stage that the measure could provide an undue economic advantage to the Française des Jeux,” the Commission said.
FDJ maintains its innocence and will cooperate with the investigation.
“FDJ stands, alongside the state, at the disposal of the European and French authorities in the course of these procedures to provide all the necessary elements demonstrating the compliance of this legal framework with French and European law,” the company said.
