Paris (AFP)

A few hours before its IPO on Thursday, La Française des Jeux is counting Wednesday investors - large and small - having subscribed its shares, an operation already presented as a success by the government.

The subscription period for the general public ended Tuesday night. Institutional investors - funds, companies, banks, insurance, etc. - still have until noon Wednesday to reserve their shares.

The fad was quickly felt for the 99 million securities sold by the State: from November 8, the day after the opening of the share reservation period, the share reserved for large investors had already been fully subscribed.

And Sunday, Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of Economy and Finance, announced that subscriptions from small savers had exceeded one billion euros - while the theoretical envelope initially targeted by the government was fixed at 600 million.

"This is a huge popular success (...) It is considerable, the French are at the rendezvous, the subscribers are at the rendezvous," had greeted Mr. Mayor.

The final price at which the French actions of the Games will be sold will be unveiled Wednesday, before the entry to the Paris Bourse Thursday morning of the group.

Given the success of the transaction, the price of the security is expected to be at the upper end of the initial range of € 16.50 to € 19.90.

In order to satisfy the maximum number of holders, subscriptions below € 5,000 will be given priority, and those who have requested more will only see part of their demand satisfied.

- the triply winning state -

To convince small savers to invest, the State has granted them a discount of 2% on the price of securities, and a free share for 10 purchased provided they are held for 18 months.

The transaction is indeed a life-size test to try to reconcile the general public with the stock market: the small carriers were undermined by the crisis of 2008, and keep in mind the examples of EDF's IPOs (2005). ) and France Telecom (1997), whose prices remain today below their introductory level.

Privatization is already a winning operation for the state: by lowering its stake from 72% to about 20% in the FdJ, it should pocket nearly 2 billion euros, a sum that will allow abound the fund for innovation and industry.

It will also continue to pocket the approximately 3.5 billion euros in tax and social revenue paid each year by the gaming operator, even after privatization.

Not to mention the 380 million euros of the company he will receive in exchange for the monopoly to operate for 25 years lottery games and sports bets in its physical network.

Heir to the national lottery created in 1933, the Française des Jeux is one of the few French public companies in good financial health. His name is also very familiar to the French, who still bet last year nearly 16 billion euros in gambling.

© 2019 AFP