DraftKings is in talks to go public via a reverse merger with a blank-check acquisition company called Diamond Eagle, as first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by Axios.
The state of play: If this sounds familiar, it's because Diamond Eagle's management had a prior blank-check company called Platinum Eagle that kicked tires on FanDuel (which was later acquired by Paddy Power Betfair).
- DraftKings and FanDuel had once agreed to merge, but were blocked by federal antitrust regulators.
- Diamond Eagle, led by veteran media executive Jeff Sagansky and aided by former MGM CEO Harry Sloan, raised $350 million in its IPO earlier this year. DraftKings hit a peak valuation of around $2 billion in 2015, but later pulled back.
- Diamond Eagle is currently the clubhouse leader for DraftKings, but word is that there also have been discussions with other strategic and private equity suitors. Not yet hearing anything on price. Expect resolution of some sort by year-end.
Go deeper: DraftKings CEO Jason Robins on Axios' Pro Rata Podcast
