and British rival Betfair agreed terms for a merger on 8 September 2015. The business is owned 52% by the former Paddy Power shareholders and 48% by the former Betfair shareholders. The merger was completed on 2 February 2016. On 5 April 2016, it was announced that 650 jobs in United Kingdom and Ireland would be lost at the company. On 18 October 2016, the company paid out $1.1M to those who bet on Hillary Clinton in the presidential election in the United States, citing a certainty of Clinton's victory. Trump won. In May 2017, it acquired daily fantasy sports operator Draft. In August 2017, it was announced that Peter Jackson, CEO of Worldpay UK would succeed Breon Corcoran as CEO of Paddy Power Betfair. In March 2018, the company announced that it would be implementing an electronic self exclusion process through its in-shop app. The new system will replace the current paper based process, and will be implemented across the United Kingdom. In May 2018, Paddy Power Betfair announced its intent to acquire FanDuel, one of the two leading daily fantasy sports operators in the United States. The deal was part of an effort to bolster the company's assets in the United States, following the overturning of a federal prohibition on sports betting. As part of the acquisition, the company paid $158 million and merged its existing operations in the United States into FanDuel to form FanDuel Group. It holds a 61% controlling stake, with the option to increase is stake to 80% after three years and 100% after five. In October 2018, Paddy Power Betfair was fined £2.2 million by the Gambling Commission for failing to protect customers showing signs of problem gambling, and for failing to carry out adequate anti money-laundering checks. In February 2019, the company announced the acquisition of a 51% controlling stake in adjarabet, a business operating in the Georgian gambling industry with an option to acquire the remaining 49% after three years. On 6 March 2019, Paddy Power Betfair announced that it would rebrand as Flutter Entertainment, pending shareholder approval at the company’s annual general meeting in May. Flutter was originally the name of a betting exchange acquired by Betfair in December 2001. The company argued that the changing in name was meant to reflect the growing number of consumer brands in its portfolio. On 2 October 2019, Flutter Entertainment announced that it would acquire the Canadian gambling company, The Stars Group, for US$6.95 billion, creating the world's largest online gambling company based on revenues. As per its existing minority stake in The Stars Group, Fox Corporation will have the option to acquire an 18.5% stake in FanDuel Group.
Operations
The new business maintains separate brands in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Italy. It operates across four divisions; Online, Retail, Australia and the United States. The online division comprises Paddy Power and Betfair in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Betfair also operates an online betting exchange. The retail division operates over six hundred betting shops in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In Australia, they own Sportsbet. The division in the United States includes the TVG Network, which is a horse racing television channel and pari mutuel online betting network, which is active in thirty five states. In New Jersey, the company has an online casino and a horse racing betting exchange. Both Paddy Power and Betfair are regulated in the United Kingdom by the Gambling Commission.
