As others stated, too much control in too few hands is normally not good.
That said, the article seems to say that Afternic will use Dan landers as an option, use their automated system for faster processing, and use the DAN system to bring payment plans to Afternic. All of those could help convert more sales at Afternic.
On the DAN side, Afternic could bring a huge network, the GoDaddy branding, 24x7 agents in many languages to handle queries, and integration with large registrar network. Also, being part of a registrar will aid lease-to-own (but hopefully when names sell at DAN they will not need to move to GoDaddy, which would be a negative, particularly for some TLDs).
It could be a plus, even if commissions edge up, as long as not too much.
I do worry though, now with Uniregistry and Dan both gone as competitors, the push to innovation and competitive commissions weakens.
We will have to wait and see.
Paul N is speaking on it at NamesCon for those of you planning to attend.
Bob