| | | FanDuel Stock Listing In US Approved By Flutter Shareholders
Written By Matthew Waters
Legal Sports Repoirt
Updated on April 27, 2023
Flutter, the UK-based parent company of FanDuel Sportsbook, received permission from shareholders Wednesday to add a secondary stock listing in the US.
The vote at Flutter’s annual general meeting gave overwhelming support to a listing to bring FanDuel stock to the US, with 99.99% of votes favoring the resolution.
The passage means US investors should be able to buy Flutter and FanDuel stock at some point in the fourth quarter of 2023.
“The next steps are we have the hard work to do to actually get US style reporting, which takes a lot of effort in terms of current and previous years’ numbers,” outgoing Chairman Gary McGann told Irish news outlet RTE. “The probability is that will take us close to the year end, at which point in time we should be in a position, having gone through the SEC process, to be listed on the US stock exchange.”
FanDuel stock listing years in making
The first public mention of a US listing involving Flutter and FanDuel came in March 2021. That listing would have been for a “small shareholding of FanDuel” after Flutter increased its stake in the company to 95% in December 2020.
Boyd Gaming owns the remaining 5% through its market access agreement with FanDuel.
The plans began to come together in February of this year. Flutter announced it would consult with shareholders about a potential US listing. That consultation went well, the company said in March, with “very strong support” given by shareholders.
US listing brings exposure to FanDuel
With FanDuel taking over as the top source of revenue for Flutter, executives saw five benefits to bringing the stock to the US:
-- Enhancing Flutter’s profile in the US
-- Enabling better recruitment and retention of US workers
-- Giving Flutter access to “much deeper capital markets” as well as new US domestic investors
-- Opens the possibility for a primary US listing, which would allow Flutter to be listed on prominent US indices
-- Providing greater overall liquidity in Flutter shares
Incoming chairman has big-name experience
Flutter confirmed to local media that John Bryant was appointed as Chair Designate to the board of directors. He will take over as Chairman on Sept. 1.
Bryant is a non-executive director of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Ball Corporation and Macy’s. He is also a senior independent director of Compass Group.
He previously served as executive chair and CEO of Kellogg.
“He brings with him an enormous wealth of leadership experience in strategic, financial, and operational matters,” McGann said.
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