Billionaire Kenneth Dart has acquired a 5.8% stake in DraftKings through his investment group Candle Lake, buying 28,581,386 shares worth approximately $691 million. An SEC filing confirms the position crossed the 5% reporting threshold. Dart already controls 28.9% of Flutter, parent company of FanDuel, but that bet has turned sour: Flutter shares have dropped 57% this year, leaving Dart down $4.2 billion on his $7.62 billion investment.
DraftKings shares are off 46% over the past year, trading around $24. The company is pushing into prediction markets with a recently launched Super App that integrates its betting-on-events platform. CEO Jason Robins said customer metrics for Predictions are close to the sportsbook's and the product is growing faster than forecast.
Flutter is in turbulent water. In May it replaced FanDuel CEO Amy Howe over weak platform growth. In October Flutter CEO Peter Jackson steps down, with Dan Taylor, head of the international division, taking over. Dart continues to build his Flutter position through total return swaps, now holding more than 21.7 million notional shares. If his stake exceeds 30%, UK takeover rules would force a mandatory bid for the rest.
Dart also crossed the 30% threshold at supplier Evolution, now holding 31.56%, triggering a mandatory tender offer. The offer values Evolution at SEK131.7 billion ($13.93 billion), below the current market cap of SEK154.12 billion ($16.31 billion). Candle Lake does not plan a full takeover. Evolution shares are up 44% over six months after a 40% decline in the prior half-year.
