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Plans to sell off stake in the French gambling monopoly
 June 12, 2008, 8:28 am (3 years ago)French State has a 72 percent stake in La Franзaise des Jeux is a semi-public company. The rest of the capital of La francaise des Jeux is owned by lottery issuers (20 percent), agents (3 percent) and company employees (5 percent). In 2007 the monopoly went through its first dip in revenues, and it has been at the centre of most of the protectionist action against outside competition.
A French government announcement is believed to be forthcoming, disclosing that the French state plans to sell off stake in the French gambling monopoly Francaises des Jeux, said to be the world's third largest lottery company with 29 million gamblers every year, generating annual sales last reported at Euro 9.5 billion.
The European Commission has warned to take the French government before the European Court of Justice over its national monopolistic policies on gambling, which caused an imminent change in policy to reopen the French market mid-2009. Franзaise des Jeux and its companion state monopoly on horseracing PMU will then face competition from French-licensed online gambling companies.
According to The Financial Times in London, the amount of stake is still unknown and so is the amount that would be raised. But it alleges that the French government has pointed out that it is prepared to sell more of its state shareholdings to fund a host of initiatives such as the reform of its universities.
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