Paris (AFP)
The French have already asked for "more than 600 million euros" shares of the Française des Jeux, almost a week after the start of the privatization operation of the company, announced Wednesday the Minister of Economy and finances Bruno Le Maire.
"This is beyond all our expectations, it is proof that the bet of the popular shareholding is a winning bet," said the minister at a hearing before senators.
This amount corresponds to the portion intended to be allocated to individuals, according to Bercy, the rest to come from institutional investors.
Interested individuals may however continue to subscribe for French Games actions. If the amount reserved for them is exceeded, subscriptions below € 5,000 will indeed be a priority. Those who have asked for more will get only a part of their request, to satisfy the maximum of investors.
In total, with a price range of between € 16.50 and € 19.90 per share, the government hopes to generate between 1.6 and 1.9 billion euros of the transaction, according to an AFP calculation. .
Individuals have until November 19 to subscribe, while institutional investors have one more day, until the day before the IPO of the company scheduled for November 21.
The government is counting on the privatization of the FDJ to bring the French to the stock market, to which they are rather cautious and while the level of savings is very high in France.
Individuals benefit from a discount of 2% on the price of the shares, and 20% to 40% of those put on the market are reserved for them.
In total, via this operation, the State will sell 52% of the capital of the company to reduce its stake to 20%.
© 2019 AFP