On 4 November 2026, the French competition authority cleared without conditions Banijay Gaming’s acquisition of exclusive control of the JOA group. Banijay Gaming, which operates the Betclic brand, is part of Banijay Group, a subsidiary of diversified group Lov Group. Betclic offers online sports betting, casino games, poker and horse betting in France. JOA operates 33 casinos in France, alongside restaurants, bars and hotels at its casino sites, often under public service concession agreements.

The authority found no direct overlap between the parties’ activities: Lov Group was not active in the French land-based casino market. It also concluded that the possible legalisation of online casinos in France remained hypothetical and was not sufficiently plausible to be included in the merger assessment.

The authority nevertheless examined whether online poker and land-based casino games, particularly poker, were related markets. Its investigation, which included consultation with competitors and the French national gambling authority, found that players may switch between online and land-based poker. It also noted that casino customers are becoming younger, contributing to some convergence between the player groups.

Because the businesses could potentially pursue an omnichannel strategy, including commercial bundling across their activities, the authority assessed possible conglomerate effects. It concluded that the transaction was unlikely to harm competition, taking into account the parties’ market shares, significant competitors in their respective markets and poker’s limited contribution to JOA’s overall casino business. The decision is 26-DCC-215.