Online gaming and betting giant Flutter Entertainment has acquired a majority stake in real-money gaming firm Junglee Games.

The deal worth USD 66.3 million, which is close to INR 484.5 crore, gave Dublin-based Flutter Entertainment a 50.1 per cent stake in Junglee Games.

The parent company of the world’s largest poker site PokerStars, Flutter Entertainment has an option to acquire the remainder of the equity in Junglee Games by 2025.

Junglee Games is one of the leading rummy operators of India with Junglee Rummy and also boasts Junglee Teen Patti, fantasy gaming platform Howzat and multiplayer strategy game Eatme.io in its portfolio 

“The group sees a good potential to further develop Junglee’s product offering, including its recently launched daily fantasy sports product, leveraging the group’s capabilities in this area,” said Peter Jackson, who serves as the Chief Executive Officer for Flutter Entertainment 

Junglee Games would generate annualised gross revenue of over USD 69 million in a full year, according to Flutter’s annual report.

Although gambling is illegal in most parts of India, some states have given poker and rummy a legal status by deeming them games of skill.

“This acquisition represents another exciting development for the group and gives us a clear podium position in a very large and fast-growing market,” added Peter Jackson.

India’s online gaming market, with a compound annual growth rate of 40 per cent, is estimated to grow to USD 2.8 billion by 2022, as per a Deloitte India report.

Founded by Ankush Gera in 2012, Junglee Games claims to have a presence in seven countries, with more than 25 million users.

It operates out of three offices in New Delhi, Hong Kong and San Francisco.

The new owner, Flutter Entertainment, runs a plethora of betting and online gaming operations across the world, including Sky Betting & Gaming, Paddy Power, Sportsbet, PokerStars, Betfair, Adjarabet, FanDuel, FOX Bet and TVG.