The Fanatics Betting and Gaming (FBG) group was seemingly a whisker away in May from securing PointsBet’s US business for $150m until DraftKings muscled in with a $195m bid.
Monday’s news from Melbourne, however, must be giving Fanatics even more last-minute jitters. PointsBet issued a press release stating it was engaging with DraftKings about its bid, one the Australia-based sportsbook operator’s financial and legal advisers stated could lead to a “Superior Proposal.”
Gaming analyst Steve Bittenbender asked via Twitter if PointsBet was leaving Fanatics waiting “at the altar”:
An Australian Stock Exchange news release on June 16 confirmed DraftKings’ all-cash bid of $195m, which the PointsBet board has since been considering. In an accompanying letter to DraftKings CEO Jason Robins on Monday, PointsBet’s Non-Executive Chairman Brett Paton asked the firm to produce in writing its “position on funding the cash burn of the US Business” as soon as it could. Paton also pointed out that the “Fanatics group transaction capped PointsBet’s US cash burn at $21m from 1 July 2023.”
recommended its shareholders vote in favor of the Fanatics transaction
The PointsBet board on Monday, however, recommended its shareholders vote in favor of the Fanatics transaction at the upcoming Extraordinary General Meeting on June 30, and notified Robins it had done so.
That still leaves plenty of time for DraftKings to get its legs firmly under PointsBet’s table.