As Veikkaus’ potential future has been teased this past week, Finland market experts expressed that the listing of the state-owned operator could serve to benefit the prosperity of the country’s newly shaped gambling market.
During a recent interview with MTV News, a notably forthcoming intervention from Maija Strandberg, Finland’s Director General of Ownership Steering, indicated that a public listing for Veikkaus in 2027 remains a possibility.
In an SBC webinar earlier this week titled ‘Finnish market officially begins – license applications starting in 60 days’, Antti Koivula, Chief Compliance Officer at Hippos ATG, noted that the listing for the state-owned operator could happen, but not quite yet.
However, Koivula made it clear that Veikkaus’ listing would have to follow certain guidelines according to upcoming legislation.
“It should be added that the current legislation, which is still enforced, doesn’t allow even partial sale of Veikkaus,” he stated.
“However, in the new law, partial selling of Veikkaus has been enabled. Not the full sale of Veikkaus, as the state must hold a majority share, but any minority share can be sold.”
Joining Koivula on the panel, which was moderated by iGaming Expert Editor Joe Streeter, were Jari Vähänen, Co-Founder & Partner at The Finnish Gambling Consultants; Minna Ripatti, Founding Partner, Attorney at Law at Legal Gaming; and Jaakko Soininen, Managing Director at Finnplay.
Veikkaus listing
When asked about the potential listing of Veikkaus, even in a partial setting, Vähänen responded by stating that it would be to the benefit of the Finnish gambling market from a business and legal perspective.
He also pitched the idea that Finland and Veikkaus could follow the path of FDJ United in France, abiding by the current legislation that states the exclusive licence holder should be directly controlled by the state, which doesn’t necessarily mean they have to be owned by the state.
“They can even sell the majority but have different kinds of stocks there. So, in practice, if that will happen, let’s assume that Finland will privatise just the multi-license part of the Veikkaus, it should be quite simple to actually do.
“If they listed the whole of Veikkaus, there will be at least four separate entities under the Veikkaus umbrella when the legislation changes at the beginning of 2027 – a technology company, a current B2B provider, Fennica Gaming and then the multi-license – they are private or will be private entities competing against the other companies, but then they tell different stories than the exclusive license holder Veikkaus, so I don’t know how that could happen.
“My personal opinion is that from a business perspective and also from a legal perspective, it would be much better when the state doesn’t have too big a role in the business, when they are regulating and setting laws for the same business.”
Ripatti stated that “the door is obviously open”, as she believes a Veikkaus sale has likely been considered since the reregulation process for Finnish gambling began, as all options would have been examined when held up against what the future of the country’s market could look like.
When the panel was asked if Finland could be a fully liberalised market with a state-owned Veikkaus still in play, or do they need to list, Koivula responded by saying that there is “no strategic value for the state to own gambling operators and they should remain on the regulator’s side”.
“They shouldn’t mix being, at the same time, a market operator and being the regulator. That’s asking for problems.”
Vähänen noted that Veikkaus will still have its exclusive lottery and physical casino operation licences, so the state still has plans for the gambling market in the future. However, he also wouldn’t be surprised to see some privatisation in those areas, potentially going in the direction of the UK and its national lottery, with a bidding process.
Market legislation and opening
As for what is still left to be fine-tuned regarding the market’s legislation, Ripatti stated that details are still being discussed in the administrative committee, such as marketing and technical regulation, but the process is still sticking to its original timeline.
“The nuances that they’re now concentrating on in the administrative committee are clarification regarding the terminology concerning marketing, what is moderate marketing.
“Then it was highlighted, or at least raised, the question of affiliate marketing. Whether and what kind of amendments would still be made to the law.”
Soininen gave a low chance that the opening of the commercial Finnish gambling market would be delayed and that the hope is that it will open on 1 January 2027.
“I agree that there is a possibility that it will be delayed, but I think that last time we spoke about this, we gave a 5% likelihood that it will be postponed. In the latest discussions that I have had, it will be opening on 1 January, 2027.
“I think that there is some kind of thinking that if pushing the law through parliament is a bit delayed, will that affect when the license applications start? I don’t think that has any kind of big effect on the market opening, because a 12-month application period is a long one.
“I understand that there are already preparations being done for the kind of license applications being handled, so I believe that they are ready for 1 January, 2 January, if the law just goes through parliament.”
Other topics discussed during the webinar include the Finnish gambling industry’s marketing direction and what the country’s future means for gambling overall in the Nordic countries.
