(Bloomberg) -- Flutter Entertainment Plc, the world’s biggest online gambling company, is raising money and locking down an investment from Fox Corp. to take advantage of opportunities presented by the pandemic.

Flutter, which owns the Paddy Power, Poker Stars and Sky Bet brands, said Thursday it will place 8,045,995 new shares through an accelerated book build, according to a statement. That would raise 853 million pounds ($1 billion) based on Thursday’s closing share price.

In the U.S., there’s potential for sports betting across the country to be legalized more quickly, the company said in a statement.

Fox is investing because it is “bullish about the the opportunities in the digital sports wagering market,” Lachlan Murdoch, Chief Executive Officer at Fox, said in the statement, which did not reveal how much Fox would invest.

There has been a flurry of share sales this week, with almost $5 billion announced after the close of trading Tuesday as large investors take advantage of rebounding indexes to offload stakes, and as companies attempt to shore up cash balances amid the coronavirus crisis.

Flutter agreed to buy Toronto-based The Stars Group Inc. in October in a $6 billion all-share deal to take advantage of opportunities in the U.S. after the Supreme Court legalized sports betting.

While Flutter had a U.S. presence -- it owns the FanDuel fantasy sports site -- prior to the Stars deal, almost half its revenue came from Britain, where tighter rules on fixed-odds betting terminals and higher taxes for online betting have upended the industry.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.