The owner of Paddy Power is poised to quit the FTSE 100 and shift its main listing to New York, delivering a fresh blow to London’s struggling stock market.
Flutter, which also owns PokerStars and Betfair, said on Monday it now sees the US as its “natural home” and will now work towards shifting its primary listing to New York.
While it would retain a secondary share listing in London, the shift would likely make Flutter ineligible for inclusion on FTSE indexes.
Flutter, which is worth £28.9bn, announced plans to pursue a secondary listing in the US last year and shares debuted on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Monday.
However, the company has upgraded its US ambitions following discussions with shareholders. Flutter will ask shareholders to vote on the plan at its AGM in May, with the move expected to take effect over the summer if it is approved.
Peter Jackson, Flutter’s chief executive, said: “With our NYSE listing effective today, this is a pivotal moment for the group as we make Flutter more accessible to US based investors and gain access to deeper capital markets.”
As well as Flutter, Irish construction group CRH last year shifted from London to New York and the British stock market missed out on the $54bn initial public offering (IPO) of Cambridge-chipmaker Arm.
The number of requests to float on the London Stock Exchange’s main market has plunged to its lowest level in at least six years, according to Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) data, while the number of companies listed on the stock market has shrunk by more than 25pc over the last decade, according to research from trading platform XTB.
Flutter is focusing on the US amid an explosion in gambling there spurred by a Supreme Court decision in 2018. The decision effectively ended a ban on sports betting at a federal level in every state but Nevada and has sparked a rapid expansion in the industry. US gambling revenues hit $16.2bn (£12.8bn) in the third quarter of 2023, according to the American Gaming Association.
While it is best known for running the high street bookie Paddy Power in the UK, Flutter also owns a majority stake in FanDuel, one of the US’s biggest sports betting firms. The US accounts for around 40pc of its business and sales there grew by 38pc to £3.6bn in 2023.
Mr Jackson said: “We believe a US primary listing is the natural home for Flutter given FanDuel’s No. 1 position in the US, a market which we expect to contribute the largest proportion of profits in the near future.”
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2024-01-29 19:05:00Z
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