Flutter Entertainment surges on buyout speculation
Shares of Flutter Entertainment - formerly Paddy Power Betfair - surged on Wednesday, with traders pointing to speculation about a possible buyout.
Flutter Entertainment (DI)
15,095.00p
16:45 23/04/24
FTSE 100
8,044.81
16:49 23/04/24
FTSE 250
19,799.72
16:59 23/04/24
FTSE 350
4,424.29
16:59 23/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,378.75
17:14 23/04/24
Merlin Entertainments
454.60p
16:54 01/11/19
Travel & Leisure
7,686.36
16:59 23/04/24
According to the Financial Times' Alphaville column, talk of a buyout/take private was driving the share gains.
"We don't have any name connected to that, to be clear, though private equity would be an obvious candidate," it said. "Blackstone's Merlin bid suggests there's a reasonable amount of cash available to managements who feel the public markets are undervaluing them."
Legoland owner Merlin Entertainments said last week that it had agreed to be taken private by investors including Lego's founding family and buyout firm Blackstone for almost £6bn in cash.
At 1615 BST, Flutter shares were up 11.4% at 6,830p.