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The privatisation of France’s state-owned
lottery is set to raise more than two billion euros, Economy Minister Bruno
Le Maire said Wednesday.
Strong demand allowed the government to set a share price of 19.90 euros
($22.02), at the high end of expectations, Le Maire told a press conference.
The government would earn “2.1 billion euros” from the operation, he said.
The windfall has been earmarked to kickstart technological innovation in
France, while the initial public offering (IPO) is part of President Emmanuel
Macron’s broader reforms to re-vitalise the French economy and make it more
welcoming for foreign investors.
Total demand for 52 percent of the shares in the Francaise des Jeux (FDJ)
monopoly amounted to more than 11 billion euros, including 1.6 billion from
small investors and 10 billion from institutions such as investment funds,
companies, banks and insurance groups, the economy minister said.
FDJ shares are to be floated Thursday on the Paris stock exchange.
It is the second-biggest betting company in Europe and the fourth in the
world.
Small-time investors who have been offered a two-percent discount are also
to be given priority given that the shares were over-subscribed.
Le Maire told media that “we decided to raise from 33 to 40 percent the
amount of shares reserved for individual investors” and noted that “half a
million people” had signed up for the IPO.
The government hopes the sale will rekindle demand for stocks among French
savers, many of whom have stuck with ultra-safe low-interest savings accounts
since the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
Once the sale is finalised, the French state is to own 20 percent of the
shares in FDJ, and individual shareholders 21 percent.
French veterans are to see their stake in the lottery beefed up, and FDJ
staff is to own between five and seven percent.
FDJ came into being as the successor of a national lottery founded in 1933
to help soldiers disfigured in World War I and struggling farmers.
It is a comparatively rare case of a French public enterprise in robust
financial health, and is well known by the public, which made 16 billion
euros’ worth of flutters on assorted games of chance last year.
(BSS)
