Flutter Finally Completes the Acquisition of more FanDuel Stake

The Irish gambling giant, Flutter entertainment just achieved another admirable feat by closing a deal of $4.2billion, thereby raising its US sports betting stake and FanDuel to a whopping 95%.

In 2018, we can remember how Flutter merged FanDuel with its US operation. This Irish gambling powerhouse announced around early December in a publication where it revealed plans of purchasing a stake of 37.2% in FanDuel.

The deal was sealed in an ingenious manner and Stocks and Cash were both involved. Notable Flutter investors, like Rupert Murdoch's Fox Corporation, were able to raise a sum of £1.1 billion unanimously, just to see this deal through.

Who Sold the Stakes?

Since Flutter was able to purchase the additional stakes, someone sold it to them and the sellers were investors under the Fastball Holdings consortium, led by KKR, a private equity firm. The 5% left of FanDuel is still owned by Boyd Gaming, the US casino operator.

An estimated 99.9% of shareholders from Flutter declared their support for the purchase of the additional stakes at a meeting that the company held on the 29 of December of 2020. This deal increases flutter exposure to the US  market significantly, and this is coming at a point in time where more states are embracing online casino gaming and sports betting.

Peter Jackson, the CEO of Flutter, noted that they got the stake at a pretty discounted rate.

Fox Is Offered the Chance of Owning More Stake In Flutter

The media giant, fox corporation took part in the process of raising capital for FanDuel's stake. According to Flutter, they offer Fox an enticing deal of purchasing a stake in Flutter come July 2021 and are watching to see whether they will be interested in acquiring the stake.

Fox already had a stake of 2.6% before the recent acquisition of additional shares in FanDuel. Fox sport will be able to buy as much as 18.5% of Flutter by the month of July.

Lachlan Murdoch, the Executive Chairman and CEO of Fox corporation mentioned recently that they have a long-term commitment to Flutter, which is evident in the fact they have maintained their stake in the company.

They are confident in the company's management ability to keep steering it in the right direction. He added that the audience at fox sport was engaged in sports betting and free to play contents and are more than excited to present products from the portfolio of Flutter's US brands to the audience.

A little History

It is worthy of note to remember that FOX sport, in collaboration with stars group, announced in May 2019 where they declared sports betting and media partnership, which led to the launch of FOX Bet around 2019 fall.