Interactive
Ireland – Flutter and The Stars Group to become ‘global leader in sports betting and gaming’
By Phil - 2 October 2019
Flutter Entertainment, the owner of Paddy Power and Betfair, is to merge with Canadian poker giant The Stars Group to create a ‘global leader in sports betting and gaming.’
The combined group would have combined revenues of £3.8bn and will be headquartered in Dublin and be listed on the London Stock Exchange as well as on Euronext Dublin.
They expect to make synergy savings of £140m a year. Flutter Shareholders would own approximately 54.64 per cent with The Stars shareholders owning approximately 45.36 per cent.
The combination will look to maximise profitable growth in its core markets of the UK, Ireland and Australia as well as proving platform and capabilities to accelerate growth across international markets and attain new podium positions in Spain, Italy and Germany.
Gary McGann, currently Chair of Flutter, will take the role of Chair of the combined group.
He said: “This is an exciting and transformational combination that will bring together two strong, complementary businesses to create a global leader in the fast-growing online sports betting and gaming industry. Under Peter Jackson’s leadership we will bring together a management team with the experience required to ensure a successful integration of the businesses, with minimal disruption, during a time of unprecedented change in the sector.”
Divyesh Gadhia, Executive Chairman of The Stars Group said: “Over the past four years our team, led by Rafi, has been working relentlessly and passionately to stabilise, grow and establish TSG as one of the clear leaders in our industry. We seized new opportunities in poker, significantly grew our casino business, acquired one of the UK’s most notable sportsbook brands in Sky Bet, built a significant presence in Australia through BetEasy, and teamed up with FOX Sports to launch FOX Bet to position ourselves to become a leader in the US. We have long had respect for Flutter, and believe the combination is a natural next step in the evolution of the business, creating a leader in online betting and gaming with trusted brands, diversified revenues, stand-out technology and the best operational and managerial talent in the industry.”
Peter Jackson, CEO of Flutter, added: “The combination represents a great opportunity to deliver a step change in our presence in international markets and ensure we are ideally positioned to take advantage of the exciting opportunity in the US through a media relationship with FOX Sports as well as our development of US sports betting through Flutter’s FanDuel and TSG’s FOX Bet brands. We are committed to these two high quality brands to drive the growth of the Combined Group in the US. The combination will turbocharge our existing four-pillar strategy and provide world-class capabilities across sports betting, gaming, daily fantasy sports and poker, as well as greater geographical and product diversification.
Lachlan Murdoch, Executive Chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation said: “Our FOX Bet partnership is off to a great start, and teaming up with Flutter and FanDuel will allow us to build on that strength and jointly capture the significant market potential ahead of us. We’re excited to be able to expand our partnership into FanDuel, which together with FOX Bet, will be a leader in sports wagering in the US.”
