France's FDJ offers $2.8 billion for Swedish online gaming firm Kindred

PARIS (Reuters) - French gaming company La Francaise des Jeux launched a takeover offer to buy Swedish online peer Kindred Group on Monday in a deal it said would create the second-biggest operator in Europe's gaming sector.

FDJ said it was offering 130 Swedish crowns ($12.43) a share for Kindred, which would correspond to an enterprise value of 2.6 billion euros ($2.83 billion) and represent a premium of 24% to Kindred Group's Jan. 19 closing price.

Kindred shares were up roughly 17% to 122.6 crowns while FDJ's stock traded 3.9% higher in early trading.

Kindred had attracted interest from "several parties" since it started a review of strategic alternatives last year, including a possible merger or sale of the company, the Swedish firm said in a separate statement.

The offer from FDJ represented the "most attractive outcome for shareholders", prompting Kindred's board to unanimously recommend the offer.

"The Board believes that the terms of the offer recognise Kindred's long-term growth prospects, taking into account the risks and uncertainties associated with the realisation of those prospects," it added.

"I am pleased to announce today the proposed acquisition of Kindred," said FDJ Chairwoman and CEO Stephane Pallez.

"The combination will result in a stronger strategic positioning and significant value creation for the benefit of our shareholders and broader stakeholder," she added.

FDJ, which offers lottery scratch cards in France and in which the French state holds a stake of 20%, said the takeover of Kindred Group would boost its earnings and result in an accretion of more than 10% in its dividend per share.

($1=10.4567 Swedish crowns)

($1 = 0.9173 euros)

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta in Paris, additional reporting by Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen; editing by Tom Hogue and Jason Neely)