As part of a new privatization scheme, the government of France is reportedly set to sell off over half of its controlling stake in lottery operator Francaise Des Jeux (FDJ) via an initial public offering.

According to a Sunday report from the Reuters news service citing an earlier story from the Journal Du Dimanche, the imminent sale is expected to bring in approximately $12.28 billion that the new administration of President Emmanuel Macron intends to utilize in order to fulfill a campaign pledge by establishing a fund to finance innovation.

Reuters reported that the French state owns about 72% of FDJ, which is Europe’s second largest lottery operator behind Rome-based Lottomatica SpA, but has asked law firm Weil, Gotshal and Manges LLP as well as investment bank BNP Paribas to begin the process of helping it offload all but just short of 25% of this holding by the first quarter of next year.

The Journal Du Dimanche purportedly explained that FDJ has long been seen as a prime candidate for privatization with the coming sale expected to attract a large amount of interest from numerous media and gaming firms.