Paddy Power owner Flutter's shares slide on delay to US stock market float

Follows departure of US chief executive

Shares in Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment slid by as much as 4% on the back of the betting group saying a decision on its potential American stock market flotation plans will be delayed by the resignation of its US CEO. File picture.

Shares in Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment slid by as much as 4% on the back of the betting group saying a decision on its potential American stock market flotation plans will be delayed by the resignation of its US CEO.

Matt King is leaving FanDuel, the US sports betting business 95% owned by Flutter, after four years as its chief executive.

Earlier this year, Flutter said it was considering a partial stock market listing of FanDuel in the US.

But it has now said that a decision on the move will be delayed by the departure of its US chief executive.

Flutter said Mr King had overseen a transformation of the FanDuel business — from an online daily fantasy sports operator to a market leader in the US online sports betting and gaming market.

The group said the departure of Mr King “will affect the timing of any potential US listing”, with the IPO option being kept “under review”.

Flutter has started the process of looking for a new CEO for FanDuel.

"We remain focused on maintaining our leadership position in the US market," Flutter CEO Peter Jackson said.

Last month, Flutter reported a more than doubling in US revenues, to nearly $400m (€330m), for the first quarter of the year. 

That performance was nearly totally driven by the FanDuel business.

"Our US business had over 1.6m average monthly players in the first quarter, meaning that it is now twice the size of our Australian business and is quickly closing in on our international division," Mr Jackson said in Flutter's latest trading update last month.

Davy analyst Michael Mitchell said filling the FanDuel CEO role should be easy as it should attract "a high-calibre set of interested candidates, attracted by the opportunity to lead the best positioned US operator".