Paddy Power owner Flutter deals fresh blow to London Stock Exchange

Betting giant Flutter has dealt the latest blow to the London Stock Exchange, as it set out plans to switch its primary listing to the US on the day its shares start trading there.

The owner of Paddy Power, Sky Bet and Betfair is set to start selling its shares in New York as part of a secondary listing today. It had previously noted that this listing could be a first step to making the US its primary listing destination, allowing it to become a member of American stock market indices like the S&P 500.

Today, it said it was expediting those plans. It now intends to put a proposal for a US primary listing before shareholders at its AGM on 1 May. The Dublin-headquartered firm then hopes that the transition will be complete by the end of the second quarter or start of the third.

Flutter CEO Peter Jackson said the US was the “natural home” for Flutter shares.

He said: “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.”

If the resolution passes, Flutter will continue to have a secondary listing in the UK.

Flutter shares, which had held steady in the morning, fell on the announcement. They are now down 2% to 16005p today. However, that still puts them up about 25% since the initial announcement of plans to list in the US.