No one is quite sure who won the legal battle over the ownership of a large stake in US online sports betting company FanDuel.
Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch says that he won the 18-month legal wrangle with Flutter Entertainment over the shareholding, but equally Flutter feels it has won because the New York judge’s decision means that Murdoch’s Fox Corporation has paid a considerable degree more for the stake.
Flutter, with brands like Betfair and Paddy Power, contested Fox’s option to buy an 18.6 per cent stake in FanDuel from Flutter. The outcome, says Flutter, is that Fox will now have to pay $3.7bn for the shares, rather than the $2.3bn that Fox originally claimed it was entitled to pay.
Perer Jackson, CEO of Flutter, said after the New York decision: “The ruling vindicates the confidence we had in our position on this matter and provides certainty on what it would cost Fox to buy into this business, should they wish to do so.”
Fox, on the other hand, also claimed victory and said that it was pleased with the "fair and favourable outcome of the Flutter arbitration. Flutter cannot pursue an IPO for FanDuel without Fox’s consent or approval from the arbitrator.”
Flutter contested the view that Fox could block any potential IPO - and that is subject to a separate legal claim.
However, the New York ruling confirms that Fox has a right to buy the stake in FanDuel at any stage between now and 2030 with the price increasing by five percent annually.
