Paddy Power owner Flutter will move its primary stock exchange listing to New York by the end of this month after most shareholders backed the switch on Wednesday.
About 98 per cent of investors voted for the Irish gambling giant to shift its primary listing to Wall Street from London at the group’s annual general meeting at its Clonskeagh, Dublin HQ.
Speaking afterwards, chief executive Peter Jackson said the group would complete the move by the end of May.
He noted that more than half of its shareholders are already US-based. “We see ourselves as going home, the US is the natural home for this business,” added Mr Jackson.
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Flutter has been trading on the New York market since January this year. Its chief executive pointed out that the market’s higher liquidity and greater trading volumes were a key attraction for the group.
He said these were “significantly higher” than anything in London or Dublin. Mr Jackson argued that European markets needed to focus on increasing liquidity if they wanted to attract new companies and keep existing ones.
Flutter left the Irish Stock Exchange last year. However, Mr Jackson stressed that “Ireland remains a very important place for us” adding that it was where Flutter was founded. The group remains headquartered in the Republic.
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It has been growing its US business rapidly through subsidiary FanDuel since a federal court ruled in 2018 that individual states could legalise sports betting.
The group expects US earnings of between $635 million (€594 million) and $785 million this year. It is the market leader in betting on sports including the country’s National Football League and basketball.
FanDuel is the biggest single subsidiary in a group that also includes Betfair, Sky Bet, Pokerstars and Sportsbet in Australia, along with operations worldwide.
Moving its primary listing to New York means that Flutter will leave London’s FTSE 100 Index this month.
Flutter is the latest big name to shift its primary listing to New York from London, following Irish building materials group CRH among others, denting the British capital’s reputation as a financial centre.
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