Flutter Entertainment Boosts Stakes in a $4 Billion FanDuel Deal

December 7, 2020 Andrej Vidovic

Flutter Entertainment, operator of such brands as Paddy Power and numerous other UK powerhouses, has agreed a $4.2 billion deal in which it will acquire 37.2% more stakes in FanDuel Group, US online sportsbook operator.

Financial Times reports that London-listed brand already held a 61% take in FanDuel, courtesy of a $770 million arrangement from May 2019.

How Deal Unfolds

The company will buy additional interest from Fastball Holdings consortium…

…consisting of Google Ventures, KKR and Company Incorporated, Verizon Ventures, NBC Sports Group, Shamrock Ventures and Comcast Ventures.

Flutter Entertainment’s CEO, Peter Jackson, said that FanDuel already offers online sports betting to punters in the American states of New Jersey, West Virginia, Indiana and Pennsylvania and that they could cover a scope of jurisdictions that contains about one third of the nation’s population.

He also said that an enterprise of that size with be equivalent to their total businesses in UK, Ireland and Australia combined. This will also represent a transformational element to his form’s overall holdings.

25 jurisdictions in the US have so far legalized sports betting in some form, since PASPA was revoked in May 2018.

Pistons Deal

FanDuel has recently become the official sports betting partner of NBA franchise Detroit Pistons…

…and will gain access into Pistons’ in-arena signage and activations, data, marketing assets and other material that will form the foundation of their partnership.

PPB Platform Move

Flutter Entertainment will shift all sports betting brands to Paddy Power Betfair platform as they scale up PokerStars investments.

Officially completed at the beginning of May, the acquisition of The Start Group resulted in the creating of the world’s biggest online gaming company, which brought together a wide range of brands and products and a diverse global presence.

Source:

“Flutter to lift FanDuel stake to 85% in $4bn deal”, financialtimes.com, December 3rd, 2020.