‘We really see ourselves as going home – the US is our natural home’
Peter Jackson, chief executive officer of Flutter Entertainment. Photo: Bloomberg
Flutter, owner of gambling brands Paddy Power and Betfair, is to move its primary market listing to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) by the end of this month.
At the company’s AGM in Dublin today, the majority of shareholders voted to support the move from London.
“We now anticipate we will shift our primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange by the end of May,” chief executive Peter Jackson said at the meeting.
“We’ll drop out of the FTSE100 and will do everything we can to make ourselves eligible for inclusion on the US indices as quickly as we can.”
Flutter delisted from the Irish exchange earlier this year. It traded on the NYSE for the first time in January.
The group’s focus remains on the US, with liquidity pools there described as “much greater” than in any other markets.
“When you look at the equivalent market cap of businesses similar to ours in the US, the volume of trading will be significantly more than we’ve seen in London or Dublin,” Mr Jackson said.
“That means that people are prepared to take bigger stakes in companies, because they feel they can get in and get out.”
He added that all stock markets in Europe, including the UK, need to be “focused on how they can drive up liquidity”, which he described as “the true test of a health of an exchange”.
Flutter expects almost half of its revenue this year to come from the US, while more than half of shareholders are based in the American market.
“We really see ourselves as going home – the US is our natural home,” Mr Jackson said.
He said the company supports the planned introduction of the Government’s new Gambling Regulation Bill here in Ireland.
“We’re very happy with the vast majority of it,” he said, adding that the group is engaging with consultation on a number of areas it feels should be addressed.
“One particular concern is around the potential impact for unintended consequences if some of these are removed.”
In February, Flutter said it expected group revenue growth of 17.5pc this year, while further adjusted Ebitda – adjusted Ebitda excluding share-based compensation – is expected to jump 30.2pc in 2024.
