Markets

US index inclusion ‘key objective’ in Flutter plan to move primary listing

Shareholders will vote on transfer of Flutter’s primary listing from London to NY at agm next month

Flutter hopes to move its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Ellen O’Regan
Wed Apr 3 2024 - 05:00

Inclusion in US stock indices is a “key objective” motivating Flutter Entertainment’s proposed transfer of its primary listing to New York, chair John Bryant has told shareholders.

The Irish gambling giant, which is parent to Paddy Power and Betfair on this side of the Atlantic, cancelled its listing on Euronext Dublin in January and started trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), with its primary listing remaining in London.

At the company’s annual general meeting on May 1st, shareholders are set to vote on a resolution to approve the transfer of that primary listing from London to New York.

In a letter to shareholders in advance of the agm, Flutter chair John Bryant outlined the reasons why New York is the “optimal location” for Flutter’s primary listing.

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He said the board believed the transfer would “further unlock long-term strategic and capital market benefits” that were already being realised by the US listing. These include enhancing Flutter’s profile in the US, greater access to deeper capital markets and US domestic investors including through eligibility for listing on US indices, and greater liquidity for Flutter shares.

Flutter has already voluntarily adopted a number of US reporting requirements to attract investment from domestic US funds and compete with US peers.

Mr Bryant said that meeting domestic reporting requirements and maintaining a primary US listing are both eligibility requirements for inclusion on “important US stock indices, which is a major driver of domestic US fund ownership”.

“The orderly transition to indexation on US indices is a key objective of the company,” he said.

He acknowledged that inclusion in US indices was “unlikely to be achieved in the very near term”, as the company had to demonstrate it meets eligibility criteria, but said the strategic and capital markets advantages of a primary US listing “outweigh these short-term considerations”.

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The resolution will need to be approved by at least 75 per cent of voting shareholders in order to pass. In April last year, more than 99 per cent of Flutter shareholders voted in favour of establishing the US listing.

If passed, Flutter has said it anticipates the transfer of its primary listing to New York will happen on May 31st.

The transfer of the primary listing to the US would mean Flutter would no longer be eligible for inclusion in UK stock indices such as the FTSE 100.

Mr Bryant said that Flutter would maintain its standard listing in London “for as long as it is considered to be in the best interests of Flutter and Flutter shareholders as a whole”.

Flutter will remain incorporated and headquartered in Ireland and resident in Ireland for tax purposes.

Ellen O'Regan

Ellen O’Regan

Ellen O’Regan is an Irish Times journalist.

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