Groupe FDJ has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire the horse racing brand ZEturb Group.
The operator of the French National Lottery is determined to bolster its presence in the country’s online gaming market amid intense competition.
Currently, FDJ does not have a foothold in the horse racing market, which is why the opportunity to acquire ZEturb is being seriously explored.
Talks are still ongoing, though, and the transaction would be subject to approval by the relevant authorities
Founded in 2001, ZEturf operates in the online horse race betting market and in the online sports betting market under the ZEbet brand.
The company has around 100 employees and recorded nearly €800m in bets in 2021, including more than €100m in B2B bets1.
Online horse race betting accounts for more than 50% of ZEturf’s B2C bets, making it France’s second-largest operator in this segment, with a market share of around 20%.
ZEturf is also operational in the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain.
FDJ, meanwhile, enjoyed a ‘positive’ first half of 2022, with its lottery operations proving particularly profitable.
The firm’s H1 results showed a strong trading period, with revenues reaching €1.2bn, up 12% on 2021’s results of €1.08bn.
Should FDJ be successful in its attempts to bring ZEturb on board, it would not be the group’s first acquisition of the year or in the last couple of months.
In July, FDJ acquired L’Addition, a French firm specialising in payment management, point of sales systems and management services for the hospitality sector.
This followed the acquisition of Aleda, a point-of-sale collection and payments solution firm, earlier in July.
