Flutter cannot guarantee Irish listing’s future

Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment cannot guarantee that its shares will continue to trade on the Irish Stock Exchange after it takes a secondary listing in New York.

Shareholders have overwhelmingly backed the Wall Street move, mooted by the Irish gambling giant in February.

Speaking after its annual general meeting in Dublin on Thursday, chairman Gary McGann said the group had “work to do” to allow it list in New York. These include preparing to meet US reporting requirements and overcoming complexities in dealing and settlement between the New York and Euronext Dublin markets. “That will take us to the year-end,” Mr McGann said.

Asked if Flutter wanted to keep its Irish market listing, chief executive Peter Jackson responded “we cannot guarantee it”. However, he stressed that the group ideally wanted its shares to trade on all three markets.

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Flutter would keep its primary listing in London and continue to work with Dublin Euronext, as the Irish market was now known, and New York, to work out the settlement difficulties, he said.

The problem lies between Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation in the US and Euroclear in Europe, the companies that process share and other security transactions on the two markets.

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Mr McGann stressed that the group would remain Irish, pointing out that it was headquartered and tax domiciled in the Republic.

Flutter, which grew from the merger of Irish bookie Paddy Power and British betting exchange, Betfair, has businesses in about 80 countries while the recently liberalised US is now its biggest market.

Its main US business, FanDuel, is heading for profitability this year following almost half a decade of investment and development. The group believes the New York listing will help it attract more US investors anxious to cash in on FanDuel’s expansion.

Mr McGann told shareholders on Thursday that Flutter calculated that the US sports betting market was worth about $40 billion (€36 billion) a year.

Earlier Flutter announced that former Kellogg chief executive, John Bryant, would succeed Mr McGann as chairman in September.

Well-known in corporate America, Mr Bryant is on the board of Coca Cola European Partners, department store chain Macy’s, where his tenure ends this month, caterer Compass Group and packager Ball Corporation. Previously Mr Bryant was chief executive and then executive chairman of cereal maker, Kellogg Company.

He said he looked forward to working with Mr Jackson and Flutter’s management to grow the business.

Mr McGann said it had been a privilege to chair Flutter as it developed. “The best is yet to come,” he told shareholders. Mr Jackson thanked Mr McGann and predicted that Mr Bryant’s experience would be “invaluable” as Flutter continued growing.