Flutter, the parent company of online sports betting giant, FanDuel, wants to bring its listing to the New York Stock Exchange after FanDuel went public on January 29th of this year.
Parent Stock Offering
Flutter Entertainment, an international sports betting and gaming company located in Dublin, Ireland, is also the parent company of FanDuel, an industry leader in the United States mobile sports betting market. On January 29th, FanDuel was listed on the New York Stock Exchange at an initial offering of $205 per share but as of February 9th, the stock had soared to $216.85 in less than two weeks.
The FanDuel stock is a secondary listing for Flutter, as its primary listing is on the London Stock Exchange. If given shareholder approval, Flutter would move its primary listing to the NYSE by late Q2 or the early part of Q3.
Flutter CEO Peter Jackson said at the time of FanDuel’s stock listing, “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. We believe a US primary listing is the natural home for Flutter given FanDuel’s #1 position in the US, a market which we expect to contribute the largest proportion of profits in the near future.”
FanDuel may be the company’s most recognizable brand in the states but Flutter also owns several other gambling concerns including:
- Betfair
- Paddy Power
- PokerStars
- Sisal
- Sky Betting & Gaming
- Sportsbet
- TVG
Reasons for Primary Listing
The conversation regarding the shift from the London Stock Exchange to the New York Stock Exchange has been percolating for quite some time. A press release at the opening of the company’s secondary listing on January 29th said the following:
“Since February 2023, management has engaged widely with US investors, existing and potential, along with existing shareholders globally. The feedback received has been very supportive of moving Flutter’s primary listing to the US.
“As a result, the Board believes that the NYSE is now the optimal location for Flutter’s primary listing of its shares and that the transition should be made as soon as practicable. This proposal will be put to shareholders as a Special Resolution at the 2024 AGM on 1 May 2024.”
The press release also highlighted the following reasons in its “Proposal to move the primary listing to the NYSE.”
- Enhancing the Group’s profile in the US
- Better enabling the recruitment and retention of US talent
- Giving the Group access to much deeper capital markets, and to new US domestic investors
- Providing greater overall liquidity in Flutter shares
- Giving optionality to pursue a primary listing in the US – one of the criteria for access to important US indices
Just two weeks before the company’s secondary listing on the NYSE, Jackson said, “The additional listing will enable us to access deeper capital markets as well as making Flutter more accessible to U.S. investors and marks a new chapter in the history of the Flutter Group.”
