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US – Merger deal over for FanDuel and DraftKings

By - 17 July 2017

DFS operators FanDuel and DraftKings will not challenge the US Federal Trade Commission’s decision to block a deal tying the two biggest companies in the sector together.

The Federal Trade Commission the deal would create a company that would control over 90 per cent of the domestic market.

FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles said: “FanDuel decided to merge with DraftKings last November, because we believed that this deal would have increased investment in growth and product development thereby benefiting consumers and the greater sports entertainment industry. While our opinion has not changed, we have determined that it is in the best interest of our shareholders, customers, employees, and partners to terminate the merger agreement and move forward as an independent company. There is still enormous, untapped market opportunity for FanDuel, and we will continue to execute our strategy to grow our business and further expand the fantasy sports industry. We’d like to thank our partners and customers for their patience, support and continued loyalty over the past several months.”

Draftkings Chief Executive, Jason Robbins, added: “Over the past few years, DraftKings has become the world’s leading fantasy sports company. We are recognized as a global sports entertainment brand and the industry leader in utilizing technology to bring our customers the best fantasy contests and products. We have a growing customer base of nearly 8 million, our revenue is growing over 30 per cent year-over-year, and we are only just beginning to take our product overseas to the billions of international sports fans we have yet to even reach.”

“Consequently, we believe it is in the best interests of our customers, employees, and investors to terminate our agreement to merge with FanDuel and move forward as a separate company. This will allow us to singularly focus on our mission of providing the most innovative and engaging interactive sports experience imaginable, forever changing the way fans connect with teams and athletes worldwide. We appreciate the continued loyalty of our players – it is you who have made this all possible – and we look forward to kicking off what is going to be our best NFL season yet.”

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