Is Finland getting ready to take Veikkaus public?

(AsiaGameHub) –   Speculation persists that Finland’s government is weighing the sale of shares in state-owned Veikkaus as regulatory reforms near completion.

Starting in July 2027, Finland will move away from Veikkaus’s monopoly on betting, online casino, and online bingo services to a competitive licensing framework. This shift has opened up the possibility of Veikkaus being listed on the Finnish stock exchange, a move intended to generate funds for an economy struggling with sluggish growth.

But Maija Strandberg, Finland’s Director General of Ownership Steering, told Finnish publication Kauppalehti that a possible initial public offering (IPO) is not expected to happen before the current government’s term ends in April 2027.

She said: “You can think of it this way: the market will open in the summer of 2027, and Veikkaus will need to demonstrate that it can compete in that market. Is one year enough for the company to prove this? We would then be at the end of 2028. If we take any action, we are approaching the turn of the decade.”

Strandberg added that Finland’s government aims to raise €3 billion in revenue to support an investment program, which includes selling stakes in publicly traded companies.

Previously, the state generated €1.94 billion by listing Posti Oyj, the country’s postal service, on the Nasdaq Helsinki Stock Exchange in October 2025.

Beyond financial gains, industry experts have noted that taking Veikkaus public would benefit Finland’s gaming sector by decoupling the organization from its dual role of regulating the market and operating within it.

During a recent SBC webinar, Antti Koivula, Chief Compliance Officer at Hippos ATG, stated that “there is no strategic value for the state to own gambling operators; instead, it should stay on the regulatory side.”

“Mixing the roles of market operator and regulator at the same time is not advisable—it’s a recipe for trouble,” he further commented.

Lessons from FDJ?

Across Europe, moving away from monopolies has resulted in state-owned operators transitioning into publicly listed companies.

Nine years after France opened its online sports betting and poker markets to new licensees in 2010, the state-owned Française des Jeux—now rebranded as FDJ United—was listed on Euronext Paris, with 20% of the company acquired by shareholders.

Jari Vähänen, Co-Founder and Partner at The Finnish Gambling Consultants, suggested that Finland could follow a similar route. However, he pointed out that Veikkaus’s diverse business segments might make the process more complex.

Veikkaus’s portfolio includes a technology firm, a B2B service provider, Fennica Gaming (a B2B provider for global markets), and the operating arm that will compete in the new multi-licensed market.

He said: “If the entire Veikkaus group were listed, there would be at least four separate private entities competing against other firms—but these entities would have different business narratives than the exclusive license-holding Veikkaus, so I’m not sure how that would work.”

Nevertheless, he observed that privatizing Veikkaus’s multi-licensed division would be “relatively straightforward.”

The application period for prospective new entrants opened in March, and law firm Nordic Legal reports that between 10 and 20 companies have expressed interest in joining the market.

Although the market will open up for certain verticals, Veikkaus will keep exclusive control over Lotto, Eurojackpot, and physical slot machines and casinos.