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Banijay Gaming has reached an agreement to acquire JOA, France’s second-largest casino operator by venue count, from funds managed by Blackstone and Kings Park Capital. The companies have not released financial terms of the arrangement.
Completion is targeted for the second half of 2026, contingent on the conclusion of employee consultations and approval from regulators. Once finalized, the deal would bring JOA fully under Banijay Gaming’s control.
Scale of operations across France
JOA runs 33 casinos throughout France and attracts more than 4.6 million customers annually. The company’s business extends beyond gaming to include hospitality and leisure operations, with these combined segments contributing to 2025 gross revenue of approximately €430 million ($490 million). The estate also comprises 37 restaurants, 44 bars and five hotels.
Laurent Lassiaz will continue in his role as JOA chairman, and the existing management team will remain in place following the acquisition. Banijay stated that this structure is designed to preserve local management while providing JOA with access to its technology and customer-data capabilities.
“The acquisition of Tipico has transformed us into a diversified omnichannel European leader in gaming, and the acquisition of JOA is fully relevant to this evolution. As in Germany and Austria, we will become a leader in land-based gaming in another of our core countries: France,” said Banijay Group CEO François Riahi.
The JOA deal follows Banijay’s completed acquisition of Tipico Group in April, a transaction that brought Betclic, Tipico and Admiral together under the Banijay Gaming banner. The addition of JOA would give the division a national land-based casino network alongside its existing online betting and gaming activities.
Regulatory boundaries limit cross-channel options
Banijay has stated its intention to improve customer engagement across physical and digital channels, and the company has pointed to potential cross-selling opportunities between JOA’s casino properties and its online activities in France.
However, the strategy operates within defined legal limits in the French market, where real-money online casino games are not permitted, despite several previous attempts to change this.
Legal online gambling in France is restricted to sports betting, horse-racing betting and poker offered by authorized operators, along with lottery products reserved exclusively for FDJ under its exclusive rights regime. The transaction therefore adds retail casino capacity rather than a lawful route into online slots or table games.
France’s regulated gambling sector recorded gains in 2025, with gross gaming revenue reaching €14.1 billion ($16 billion), a 3% increase over the 2024 figure. This followed 4% growth the previous year.
Online gambling generated €2.61 billion ($3 billion), an 8.5% rise, representing 18.5% of total regulated revenue. Casinos also posted growth, with gross gaming revenue rising 3.4% to €2.81 billion ($3.20 billion) and admissions increasing 2% to 31.6 million.
Online sports betting remained the largest segment of the digital market, with revenue increasing 10.4% to €1.76 billion ($2 billion). France also recorded 4.2 million unique online players in 2025, up 7.7%, along with 6.1 million active gaming accounts.