Veikkaus gallops forward with PMU renewal amid Finnish market reform
The operator of Finland’s national lottery, Veikkaus Oy, has partnered with France’s Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) to enhance its horseracing toto and pools offering.
In place until 2030, the deal will overlap two eras of Finnish gaming as the current monopoly held by Veikkaus and the multi-licence market set to come into effect in 2027.
Terms of the deal see PMU gaming pools and image production provided to Veikkaus, which will offer the French company’s pools on trotting and galloping horse racing events to its customers.
Veikkaus has been offering these products to its customers for many years, so the deal simply ensures this continues, while also placing the operator in a good position to retain horse racing customers following the liberalisation of the Finnish market.
“We are very pleased that we can continue our cooperation with PMU well into the future,” said Juha Ahjolinna, Head of Toto and Racing at Veikkaus.
“PMU is a leading European player in its field, and cooperation with them offers our customers an interesting and extensive gaming offer.”
Finland ready for new dawn
The Finnish multi-licence market is due to go live in July 2027, but this is a rescheduled launch date as the initial January 2027 timeframe was pushed back by the government recently.
Regardless of this delay, it is clear that the opening up of the Finnish market is inevitable following parliamentary approval of the government’s legislation in December 2025.
Although the move will result in Veikkaus losing its monopoly and having to contend with new competitors – many of which, like ATG Hippos and the Aland Islands-based PAF, have got preparations well underway – it is a move the operator is very supportive of.
Veikkaus has been advocating for the breakup of the monopoly system for some time due to its struggles to compete with offshore firms, which do not pay tax to the Finnish state and have no requirement to adhere to its player protection standards.
With compensation far below the government’s ideal target of 90%, Veikkaus, along with a broad section of Finnish politicians across the parliamentary spectrum, sees a multi-licence model as the only way forward – but with Veikkaus retaining some rights to the lottery.
Regardless of its support for the monopoly abolition, Veikkaus is very aware of the competition ahead of it and has been making adjustments to its platform over the past year.
https://lotterydaily.com/2026/01/05/digital/veikkaus-pmu-partnership/