FDJ rebuilds Kindred board following chairman and director exodus

Carlsson, James H Gemmel, Cédric Boireau, Andrew McCue, Jonas Jansson and Kenneth Shea all tendered their resignations as FDJ’s €2.45bn takeover of Kindred was approved on 4 October and, on Monday (14 October), FDJ appointed three of its own to the board.  

Directors Heidi Skogster and Martin Randel also resigned but will remain on the board until their term of office expires at Kindred’s next annual general meeting which will be held in 2025, a Kindred statement said.

Outgoing Kindred chairman Carlsson joined the board in 2021. He is also chairman for regional Swedish bank Dalslands Sparbank and a member of the board for PEG Capital Partners.  

Randal and Skogster joined Kindred’s board in 2023 and 2021 respectively. They are both independent non-executive directors. 

FDJ directors to bring vast experience to Kindred’s board

FDJ execs Pascal Chaffard, Edeline Minaire and Célia Vérot will take on roles within Kindred’s board to replace the outgoing staff. Kindred’s board of directors will consist of Chaffard, Minaire, Vérot, Skogster and Randel.  

Chaffard, taking on the role of chairman, joined FDJ in 1994 and is currently EVP finance, performance and strategy. Prior to that he held roles as head of strategy and transformation and product marketing director. 

Minaire has been in the role of finance director at FDJ for five years. She began her career at Ernst & Young in audit and IFRS consulting. Vérot has been FDJ’s chief regulation officer since May 2024. She previously spent time in the civil service as deputy secretary general and advisor at the French prime minister’s office.

FDJ’s bid was approved by 90% of Kindred’s shareholders after the operator “unanimously” recommended shareholders accept the offer. Kindred’s B2C offering and its games studio Relax Gaming will sit alongside FDJ’s online sports betting, poker and ZEturf business. The combined group will be under the ‘competitive online betting and gaming’ umbrella.