Leeds employer Flutter to move primary stock market listing to New York in latest blow to London

The company, which was previously called Paddy Power Betfair, currently has a primary stock market listing in London and gained an additional New York stock market listing at the start of the year.

The firm has rapidly expanded in the US in recent years through its FanDuel sportsbook business as a raft of states have loosened their gambling restrictions.

Shortly after gaining its New York listing, it proposed to move its main listing to the US.

The switch is now expected to complete by the end of May after the vote gained shareholder backing.

Flutter will still keep a secondary listing in London, meaning its shares could also be traded there.

The move will give the company a chance to be included in the big US indices, but means it will now be removed from London’s FTSE indices.

It is another blow to the London Stock Exchange amid a dearth of new listings of the index.

It also comes after travel firm Tui dropped its London listing in favour of listing only in Germany earlier this year, while building supplies firm CRH also recently moved its main listing to the US.

The business has a major presence in Yorkshire, employing 2,000 retail and office staff in Leeds.

Experts have speculated the primary listing move by Flutter may eventually lead to a full transfer of the listing to the States.