Government to establish an integration company Peli-integrointiyhtiö FRV Oy

Today on 19 November, the Government decided that the Prime Minister's Office will establish a gaming integration company Peli-integrointiyhtiö FRV Oy.

This is part of a project to merge the gaming activities of Fintoto Oy, Veikkaus Oy and Finland's Slot Machine Association (RAY) into a new, wholly state-owned company. The project is led by the Ministry of the Interior. The Ministry of the Interior is responsible for amending the statutes on gaming and on the distribution of revenue, while the Prime Minister's Office is responsible for the actual merger of the gaming operators.

The State will own 55% of the company and each gaming operator 15%. The company will have a board with six members: Mr Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo will be the chair and the members are Ms Outi Henriksson, Ms Hanna Sievinen, Mr Pertti Koskenniemi (Fintoto Oy), Mr Veli-Pekka Nummikoski (Finland's Slot Machine Association) ja Mr Juha Koponen (Veikkaus Oy).

The new company will be responsible for and make sure that progress is made in operational cooperation until the legislation on the merger comes into force, probably on 1 January 2017. The current gaming operators will continue as independent operators until the new legislation comes into effect.

Inquiries: Pekka Hurtola, Senior Financial Adviser, tel. +358 295 160 143, and Petri Vihervuori, Senior Financial Adviser, tel. +358 40 487 2623, Prime Minister’s Office.