Flutter shareholders to vote on additional US listing next month

Flutter Entertainment CEO Peter Jackson

Caoimhe Gordon

A formal resolution on Flutter’s proposed additional US listing will be put to shareholders at the group's AGM next month following “very strong support” from shareholders.

In February, the global betting group said it would begin to consult shareholders on the possibility of an additional stock market listing in the United States. Currently, shares of the group are traded in both London and Dublin.

In an announcement today, Flutter said that consultation with shareholders representing “a significant majority of Flutter’s issued share capital” had been positive, with a vote on the potential listing now set for April 27.

This resolution requires the approval of 75pc of the votes from shareholders at the AGM. Shareholders will be asked to vote on a number of changes to the group’s articles of association which are necessary to facilitate a new listing in the US.

If the resolution is approved, Flutter said it aims to implement the secondary stock listing in the fourth quarter of this year.

For more than a year, the group had been considering a US stock market flotation of a small holding in its American business FanDuel, which has grown to become the group’s largest business by revenue as several US states legalised sports betting.

“In the event that there is broad shareholder support for an additional US listing, this would take precedence over any plans to list a small shareholding in FanDuel,” the group said last month.

It added that an additional listing would boost the Dublin-based group's overall profile in the US market, as well as improve employee  recruitment and retention there.

The additional listing would also open access to new capital markets and investor and provide greater overall liquidity in the group’s shares.

“As we operate businesses that benefit from liquidity, then you want to be in the most liquid market in the world,” chief exeuctive Peter Jackson said earlier this month.

“Seventy percent of global equities are traded in the US. We’re the global leader in online gaming and we think it makes a lot of sense for us to have a listing there.”

Last year, Flutter generated revenues of £7.7bn (€8.6bn). This reflected a 27pc increase on the prior year, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) rose by 27pc to £918m (€1.04bn).