The Chief Executive Officer Jason Robins, Chief Executive Officer of Sports betting company, said on Friday that DraftKings Inc shelved its $22 billion buyout of British rival Entain Plc to focus on its core U.S. market.
The deal would have kick-started DraftKings' international expansion by allowing it access to prominent British high street fixtures Ladbrokes and Coral, as well as bwin and partypoker online brands.
As far as why we walked away, we walked away. The value that we feel like we would beshedding by pursuing that asset, Robins said on a post earnings call with analysts that it was more about our confidence in the U.S. and our desire to focus on the U.S.
Neither company has previously said that the deal talks fell through in late October.
Robins did not rule out overseas acquisitions in the future.
When the United States opens up to sports betting, companies look to get experts in more developed gambling markets such as Britain, there has been frenetic dealmaking in the industry.
Chris Grove, a partner at Eilers and Krejcik Gaming, said that no one, no DraftKings, no MGM, no Caesars, no Flutter, no DraftKings, no Caesars, no Flutter, no PointBet is going to be a trustworthy competitor for national leadership in the U.S. online betting market via organic growth alone.