Flutter investors brace for verdict on FanDuel stake sale - report

According to Sky News, a New York court will deliver its verdict on the value at which Fox should be allowed to exercise an option over an 18.6% stake in FanDuel.

City sources told Sky that Paddy Power and Betfair owner Flutter was expected to announce the outcome late on Friday evening, with one shareholder in the London-listed company suggesting they were confident of a positive outcome for the group.

Fox filed an arbitration claim against Flutter in April 2021, arguing that the fair market value for it to buy the FanDuel stake was the same price which Flutter itself had paid when it increased its shareholding in December 2020. However, Flutter has argued that the valuation - roughly $11bn - is barely half the fair valuation that Fox should now be obliged to pay.

Given the size of the FanDuel stake at stake, the gulf between the two sides represents a potential additional windfall for Flutter of as much as $2bn.

Flutter chief executive Peter Jackson has been public that a separate stock market listing of FanDuel is an option for the company in future.

Sky said that if the outcome of the arbitration is favourable to Flutter, analysts speculate that it would return part of the proceeds to investors in the event that Fox exercised its option to acquire the stake.

Flutter now owns 95% of FanDuel, having acquired its most recent stake from a consortium backed by private equity firm KKR.