Market values Paddy Power Betfair at €10bn on first day of trade

Shares in the newly-merged Paddy Power Betfair were trading at €138.45 in the mid afternoon of their first day of trading on the Irish Stock Exchange on Tuesday – valuing it at more than €10 billion.

The shares were admitted to the Dublin and London markets on Tuesday morning after the deal was completed on Monday night. Their opening quote of €139 was 2.6 per cent less than the €142.75 at which Paddy Power closed on Monday.

The €138.45 quote in Dublin values the company at €11.5 billion. The total value of its shares in freefloat is €10.2 billion.

Paddy Power Betfair is headquartered in Clonskeagh Dublin and is the world’s biggest gambling business.

Warwick Bartlett, chief executive of Global Betting and Gaming Consultants said that on-line, British-based Bet 365 remains the largest on-line business. However, he added that taking Paddy Power's 600 or so betting shops into account made the newly-formed group the biggest.

Paddy Power Betfair confirmed that Breon Corcoran, previously head of Betfair, will be chief executive of the new group.

Alex Gersh will be chief financial officer, Ian Dyson, Zillah Byng-Thorne, Peter Jackson and Peter Rigby are all appointed non-executive directors.

Paddy Power's chief financial officer, Cormac McCarthy, is resigning along with directors Tom Grace and Ulric Jerome.