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Tag: Flutter Entertainment PLC

  • As FanDuel parent Flutter starts trading on NYSE, CEO expects Super Bowl bets to ‘break records’

    As FanDuel parent Flutter starts trading on NYSE, CEO expects Super Bowl bets to ‘break records’


    Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of FanDuel, started trading on the New York Stock Exchange for the first time Monday, as the company tries to narrow the valuation gap between it and rivals including DraftKings.

    Flutter said Monday that it’s planning to make the New York Stock Exchange its primary listing and will put that to a vote of its shareholders in May. Making the NYSE its home, rather than London, will help it get included in important U.S. indexes, the company said.

    Launching Monday with the ticker FLUT, it’s targeting New York as its primary listing late in the second quarter and early in the third quarter.

    Having a New York listing will also boost its profile in the U.S., help with recruitment and retention, and access “much deeper” capital markets.

    Flutter CEO Peter Jackson spoke with Yahoo Finance about the company after it started trading on Monday. The total addressable U.S. sports betting market is expected to reach $40 billion by 2023 — but Jackson thinks that’s lowballing it. “I expect [$40 billion] will turn out to be conservative, because everything in America turns out bigger than you expect,” he said.

    And when asked about betting on the Super Bowl matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers, he said, “We’ll break records in a couple of weeks time.”

    London-listed shares
    FLTR,
    -0.92%
    drifted 0.3% lower on Monday, though the stock has gained 17% this year.

    According to FactSet, DraftKings
    DKNG,
    +1.88%
    trades on 8.2 times estimated fourth-quarter sales, compared to 2.6 times for Flutter Entertainment.

    Flutter said it plans to retain its London listing, having already delisted from Euronext Dublin.

    Flutter earlier this month said that FanDuel was the “clear number one sportsbook” in the U.S. during the fourth quarter.

    Other Flutter brands include Betfair, PokerStars and Paddy Power.

    Weston Blasi contributed.





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  • Fox loses legal battle to buy a stake in FanDuel from parent company Flutter at a lower valuation

    Fox loses legal battle to buy a stake in FanDuel from parent company Flutter at a lower valuation

    The FanDuel Inc. app.

    Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Fox lost a legal battle to buy an 18.6% stake in sports betting company FanDuel Group from its parent company Flutter at a reduced valuation, according to a ruling Friday from a New York arbitrator.

    Should Fox exercise its option to take the stake, it would be at a price of at least $3.72 billion.

    The decision ends the more-than-yearlong lawsuit between the two companies over the valuation of FanDuel, which has emerged as one of the leading U.S. sports betting platforms alongside services from DraftKings, Caesars and MGM.

    The price that Fox would have to pay is based on a FanDuel valuation of $20 billion, according to the ruling. Flutter, which owns nearly 95% of FanDuel, acquired a 37.2% stake in the company in December 2021 at an implied valuation of $11.2 billion. Fox had argued the price should be based on that threshold.

    Still, Fox could have been ordered to pay much more, as Flutter had been arguing for Fox to pay “fair market value” to exercise the option, which could have valued the stake at upward of $6 billion based on a March 2021 estimated value, a Fox spokesperson told CNBC.

    Fox has a 10-year option to acquire the stake, which runs through December 2030. The arbitrator ruled that there would be a 5% annual escalator on its purchase price, meaning the current price of a deal would be $4.1 billion.

    “Today’s ruling vindicates the confidence we had in our position on this matter and provides certainty on what it would cost Fox to buy into this business, should they wish to do so,” said Flutter CEO Peter Jackson in a statement.

    As part of the arbitration ruling, Flutter cannot pursue an IPO for FanDuel without Fox’s consent or approval from the arbitrator. Flutter had previously considered taking FanDuel public, taking advantage of the booming sports betting market.

    “Fox is pleased with the fair and favorable outcome of the Flutter arbitration,” the company said in a statement following the ruling. “Fox has no obligation to commit capital towards this opportunity unless and until it exercises the option. This optionality over a meaningful equity stake in the market leading U.S. online sports betting operation confirms the tremendous value Fox has created as a first mover media partner in the U.S. sports betting landscape.”

    Sports betting has continued to grow in the U.S. as more states bring legal sports betting online — as of Nov. 1, 33 states allow some form of sports betting, with California having two measures on its ballot to legalize it.

    That has pushed up revenues as well. Commercial sports betting revenue nationally through August was $3.97 billion, up nearly 70% year over year, according to data from the American Gaming Association.

    But that continued growth hasn’t benefitted all public sports betting companies. DraftKings stock posted its worst-ever decline on Friday after the company reported monthly customer growth that fell short of estimates even as it revised its revenue forecast upwards. DraftKings, which is down more than 59% year-to-date, is now valued at just over $5 billion.

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