French Lotteries

La Française des Jeux (FDJ), the French national lottery, was founded in 1933 and is a semi-public company. FDJ was partially privatised via an IPO on Euronext Paris in November 2019; the French State has since reduced its holding to just above 20%, retaining an anchor minority stake while most shares are now held by institutional and retail investors. The games offered by FDJ are available through traditional brick-and-mortar outlets as well as online.

Along with 11 other European lotteries, the FDJ launched Euro Millions in 2004. This draw game has proven to be popular with the French public.

In September 2008, the French government announced plans to privatize La Française des Jeux in 2009 Those plans ultimately led to the 2019 IPO and the current mixed-ownership model, rather than full state control.