The Ireland-based gambling group said a primary US listing would offer “access to much deeper capital markets” as well as new investors across the Atlantic. 

The board plans to retain a secondary listing in the UK after the move but a primary listing is required for inclusion in the FTSE 100.

The announcement by Flutter one of the FTSE’s top 20 companies with a valuation of about £29bn is another setback for London’s stock market. Neil Shah, Director of Research at Edison Group shares:”Another day, another body blow to London with Flutter confirming that it will shift its primary listing location from London to New York. That Flutter has upgraded its love affair with the US markets to fully-fledged relationship is no surprise given that its US operations are a significant part of its business and the soon-to-be primary source of its profits.

Yet London’s role as jilted partner continues, with yet another company leaving its embrace on the promise of higher valuations and deeper pools of capital in the US. Certainly, the easing of sports betting regulation in the US, coinciding with heavier regulation in the UK, is a major factor in the scramble for US market share. However, that a top 20 company has chosen to depart the City, with Flutter’s secondary listing status excluding it from FTSE 100 inclusion, follows a very worrying and very public trend of listed companies losing trust in the City, which must prompt the government to turbo-charge its listing reforms.”