Betting on the US: Flutter chief Peter Jackson and ex-American football star Rob Gronkowski at the New York Stock Exchange
Paddy Power’s owner dealt another blow to London as it set out plans to switch its main listing to New York. Shares in Flutter started trading on Wall Street for the first time yesterday following a ‘secondary’ listing.
And the company used the occasion to reveal it is hoping to move its ‘primary’ listing across the Atlantic – downgrading its status in London in the process.
The FTSE 100 group, which owns brands such as Betfair, Fanduel and PokerStars, said the New York Stock Exchange was the ‘optimal location’ for the business and a move should be made ‘as soon as practicable’.
The company will ask shareholders to approve the move at the annual meeting on May 1. It would still keep a secondary listing in London, meaning its shares could also be traded there.
Flutter chief executive Peter Jackson said: ‘We believe a US primary listing is the natural home for Flutter given Fanduel’s number one position in the US.’
The nascent US gambling market continues to explode, with Flutter’s American arm, Fanduel, increasingly dominating the group’s revenues. Around 40 per cent of its earnings now come from the US.
But the decision to jump ship will cause further misery to the London market, which has seen a steady flow of firms call it quits.
Building materials group CRH, which had been a member of the FTSE 100, and Irish construction firm Kingspan both delisted last year.
Travel giant TUI and education firm Pearson have said they were considering making a departure.
Flutter’s New York shares climbed 1.9 per cent while in London they fell 0.9 per cent.
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