Davy advises Flutter on their €900m+ Equity Fundraise
29th May, 2020
Davy acted as Joint Global Co-Ordinator and Joint Bookrunner on an accelerated bookbuild placing of 5.5% of the issued share capital of Flutter Entertainment PLC (“Flutter”), the FTSE 100 global leisure and entertainment group, raising gross proceeds of £813m (the “Placing”). The transaction further reinforces Davy’s credentials in UK and Irish ECM transactions, having executed 25 deals with a total value in excess of $5.5bn since the beginning of 2015.
Transaction Highlights
The transaction received strong demand from existing and new investors and resulted in a multiple times oversubscribed book. The Placing was priced at a tight discount of 4.7% to the previous closing price demonstrating strong market support.
Company Overview and Background to the Transaction
Flutter is a leading global sports betting, gaming and entertainment provider for thirteen million customers worldwide. Flutter has a portfolio of leading brands including FanDuel, PokerStars, Paddy Power, Betfair, Sportsbet, Sky Betting and Gaming and TVG.
In 2020 Flutter successfully merger with The Stars Group, creating the biggest sports betting and gaming company globally.
Flutter anticipates that the COVID-19 pandemic will change its sector landscape, creating significant growth opportunities. The equity raise provides Flutter capital to capture those opportunities, continue to drive the growth story with an acceleration of Flutter’s US strategy, increase investment to enhance competitive positioning and consolidate its market position. The raise also accelerates Flutter’s de-leveraging strategy, accelerating finance savings and increasing financial flexibility to invest for growth which is a prudent approach to capital in an uncertain environment.
Davy Value Add
Davy led early identification and engagement with key opinion forming investors through a selective wall-crossing process. Davy’s in-depth knowledge of Flutter’s shareholder base and pools of capital available to Flutter resulted in a high-quality order book. Large orders were secured from wall-crossed investors, this was key to driving early momentum. The book was multiple times over-subscribed, with strong interest from new and existing institutions.
