Paddy Power Buys FanDuel in Bid to Dominate Sports Betting
- Deal is said to value combined businesses at over $1 billion
- FanDuel lost $37 million on sales of $124 million last year
The Paddy Power Plc website sits on a computer screen in this arranged photograph in London.
Photographer: Matthew Lloyd/Bloomberg
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Paddy Power Betfair Plc agreed to take control of the closely held website FanDuel, as the Irish bookmaker seeks to gain from an expected rise in sports betting following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling this month.
Paddy Power will own 61 percent of the combined business after contributing its U.S. assets and $158 million of cash, the Dublin-based company said Wednesday in a statement. It has options to increase its ownership to 80 percent after three years and 100 percent after five.