The parent company of sports spread betting site Sporting Index has been acquired by French lottery giant FDJ through its B2B subsidiary FDJ Gaming Solutions (formerly known as LVS).
The acquisition of Sporting Group, which also includes betting technology provider Sporting Solutions, strengthens FDJ Gaming Solutions’ existing B2B business by adding pricing, trading and risk management capabilities to the group. Whether the B2C business holds any appeal to FDJ remains to be seen, but the French giant does have extensive operating experience in its domestic market for other B2C gambling products.
Xavier Etienne, Executive VP Technology & International at FDJ Group and Chief Executive Officer of FDJ Gaming Solutions, said: “We are very pleased to have completed this acquisition, which underlines FDJ’s ambition in the B2B sports betting sector. FDJ recognises the excellence that Sporting Group has in pricing and trading. That is why this operation is key for our B2B international development.”
Simon Trim, Chief Executive Officer of the Sporting Group, added: “We are thrilled to be joining FDJ, and becoming a part of FDJ Gaming Solutions. It is clear we have a shared vision on the future shape and evolution of the industry, in particular the important role that expert risk management and price differentiation will play going forward. The acquisition allows us to continue delivering our world-leading B2C spread betting proposition and B2B trading services, and we look forward to delivering exciting new products and services as part of the enlarged business.”
Sporting Solutions claims to use the widest range of official data and highest quality of content to deliver superior pricing, generated by ‘best-of-breed algorithms and overseen by their expert trading team’. Sporting Solutions also provides automated Risk Adjusted Pricing, described as a unique risk management service which adjusts prices on a per-operator basis, allowing sportsbooks to differentiate their offering based on their actual exposure and their own appetite for risk.
The combination with FDJ Gaming Solutions capabilities will provide operators in regulated territories a market-leading full-service proposition, combining a proven, fully flexible, multi-channel Advanced Betting Platform and a customised pricing, trading and risk management service. The new offer, called ‘Advanced Betting Services’, will be commercialized to lotteries under the FDJ Gaming Solutions brand and to other gambling operators under the Sporting Solutions brand.
FDJ said that Sporting Solutions will remain an independent provider of pricing and trading solutions to third-party technology, with current partner and supplier relationships continuing unaffected.
