(Reuters) -DraftKings Inc said on Monday it would buy billionaire Tilman Fertitta’s Golden Nugget Online Gaming Inc for $1.56 billion in a deal that sees the Houston Rockets owner join the fantasy sports betting firm’s board and brings it more than 5 million new customers. Fertitta, who owns about 46% of the equity in Golden Nugget, agreed to continue holding the DraftKings shares to be issued to him in the merger for a minimum of one year after transaction closes, the company said. “We look forward to Tilman being an active member of our Board and one of our largest shareholders,” DraftKings Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jason Robins said. Betting companies have been circling the U.S. market, which has grown rapidly since a ban on sports betting was lifted three years ago and more states have legalized it. DraftKings, which allows users to enter daily and weekly fantasy sports-related contests, faces varying regulations on online gambling across regions. In the United States, it has live-betting operations in states including Colorado, Illinois, and Indiana. As part of Monday’s deal, DraftKings said it will form a new holding company called New DraftKings containing both DraftKings and Golden Nugget, which also owns the Landry’s Inc portfolio of restaurants. If the all-stock deal comes through, Golden Nugget shareholders will receive 0.365 shares of New DraftKings’ stock for each share held. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. Shares of Golden Nugget rose around 47% to $18.02, while those of DraftKings were up 1.5% at $52.36 in early trading. Golden Nugget"s parent company Fertitta Entertainment Inc, owned by Fertitta, in February agreed to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. Draftkings had used a similar route to go public in April last year. (reut.rs/3lHwPDr) Reporting by Chavi Mehta and Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Sherry Jacob-Phillips Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.