FDJ secures exclusive 25-year lottery rights in €380m deal
Operator takes multi-million euro loan from five French banks to pay compensation to the French state
French lottery operator La Française des Jeux (FDJ) has taken a €380m syndicated loan to finance its new 25-year rights deal on French lottery games and sports betting.
The exclusive arrangement ensures that FDJ maintains the rights to operate lottery games at point of sale and online, as well as sports betting at the point of sale.
The FDJ took out the €380m floating-rate loan from five French banks, which is now repayable over the next 20 years.
The financing was led by Caisse d’Epargne Ile de France as co-arranger and agent. Fellow banks BRED, Caisse d’Epargne Hauts de France, Caisse Régionale de Crédit Agricole Mutuel de Paris et d’Ile de France, and Crédit Lyonnais acted as authorised co-arrangers.
It was noted that FDJ had explored various financing methods but eventually decided to take the syndicated loan route due to a favourable interest rate environment and a repayment schedule that aligned with the new rights period.
Under the Pacte Act, which came into law on 23 May 2019, FDJ saw its exclusive rights term fixed at 25 years with a significant payment needed to be made to the French state by 30 June 2020.
This significant payment amount was set at €380m on 17 October 2019.
In a statement on the group’s website, FDJ noted that the loan “strengthens the already extremely solid financial situation of FDJ”.
Elsewhere, FDJ has warned of the potential financial impact on its business due to the coronavirus outbreak.
FDJ – formerly owned by the French state – was privatised in a public listing at the end of 2019.