The French Pari Mutuel, PMU, and Serendipity Investment, a holding company which includes giants Bouygues and Artemis, have purchased GENY Infos, the largest information provider of French racing. GENY Infos groups two entities, GENY Courses and AIP, a press agency which specialises in horse racing.

This move is the first external purchase for the PMU and coincides with its efforts to compete in a global market, an inevitability forced upon it by European competition law. The PMU embarked on a long-term growth strategy eleven years ago and the purchase of GENY Courses represents a bid to become more commercial.

GENY Courses was created in 1984 and soon established itself as market leader in its field of expertise. It belongs to the publicly quoted company, Prosodie, which itself concentrates on telecommunications services and IT solutions for access and exchange of information.

GENY provides pre- and post-race data on both metropolitan and regional racing and offers commentary and a tipping service. It also boasts a long history with the PMU. The press agency AIP, which numbers twenty journalists, provided the PMU-run racing channel, Equidia, with editorial staff for a number of years.

It is believed that the deal has been in the pipelines since August 2007 and that the selling price is somewhere in the region of €7 – 8 million.

Of the acquisition, PMU President Bertrand Bélinguier commented, “The PMU is very sensitive to the visibility and quality of racing data, for which Geny Courses is a recognised player.

“This purchase demonstrates the willingness of the PMU to react to market changes and to the wishes of its customers.”
Jour de Galop