Mike Murphy
Fanatics Inc. It will buy Australia’s PointsBet’s US operations for about $150 million, the company’s biggest sports bet.
PointsBet announced the deal on Sunday night, and the acquisition only applies to PointsBet’s US assets, not its businesses in Australia and Canada. CNBC first reported the deal. Radicals did not immediately respond to MarketWatch’s request for comment Sunday night.
PointsBet is an online sportsbook that launched in the US in 2019 and is available in 15 states including New Jersey, Iowa, Illinois and Colorado.
“Despite the strategic success of building a significant asset in the US, the costs of operating in a state-by-state environment, along with the requirements to build a high level to compete with well-capitalized operators, led us to explore several options,” PointsBet CEO Sam Swannell said in a statement. “Selling the US business to Fanatics Betting and Gaming offers a very attractive risk-adjusted value outcome for shareholders compared to the risks and rewards of other options.”
PointsBet shareholders are expected to vote on the sale at their annual meeting in late June.
The deal, according to DraftKings Inc. ( DKNG ) and FanDuel , American sports betting companies, should increase pressure. In late April, Fanatics launched sportsbook betting for customers in Ohio and Tennessee, and the Wall Street Journal reported at the time that the company was looking to invest about $1 billion in its new sports betting division.
In an interview, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin told the Journal that within the next 10 years, Fanatics wants to become the world’s top sports betting company, and that the betting business is expected to be profitable by 2025 or 2026.
In December, Florida-based Fanatics — which started with sports apparel and collectibles — closed a $700 million funding round, valuing it at $31 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported, as the privately held company is expected to eventually launch its IPO. .
Last year, Fanatics acquired trading card company Topps.
– Mike Murphy
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05-14-23 2254ET
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