Shares in Flutter Entertainment, the owner of Paddy Power, Betfair and FanDuel, jumped sharply on Tuesday after it emerged that billionaire investor Ken Dart had acquired a £5m stake in the gambling group. The stock rose as much as 4.2% in early London trading, outpacing a broadly flat FTSE 100 index, before settling at a gain of around 3.8% by mid-morning.
Dart, who made his fortune through the family-owned Dart container and investment empire, is known for taking sizable positions in companies he believes are undervalued. His latest move into Flutter comes as the Dublin-headquartered firm continues to pivot aggressively towards the US market, where its FanDuel brand has become a dominant force in the rapidly expanding sports-betting sector. The £5m stake, while modest relative to Flutter's market capitalisation of approximately £30bn, is seen by analysts as a symbolic vote of confidence.
Flutter has been one of the standout performers on the FTSE 100 over the past year, with its shares climbing more than 30% as investors bet on the long-term profitability of US sports betting. The company last month reported a 15% rise in group revenue for the first half of 2024, driven largely by FanDuel's strong performance in states such as New York and New Jersey. However, some analysts have warned that the stock's valuation is already pricing in significant future growth, leaving little room for error.
For UK investors and pension holders with exposure to the FTSE 100, Flutter's continued rally is a notable bright spot in an otherwise cautious market. The stock's weighting in the index means that its performance can have a measurable impact on tracker funds and defined-contribution pension portfolios. 'Dart's investment is a reminder that big-money players see value in Flutter's US strategy, but UK shareholders should remain mindful of regulatory risks both here and across the Atlantic,' said a market analyst at a London-based brokerage, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Flutter's move to a primary listing on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year has also shifted its centre of gravity away from London, though it retains a secondary listing in the UK. That dual-listing structure means that UK-based shareholders can still trade the stock on the London Stock Exchange, but the company's fortunes are increasingly tied to US market sentiment and American gambling laws. Source: Financial Times