Parvus Asset Management has built up a 7.1 per cent shareholding in the FTSE 100-listed gambling group.

UK.- Flutter Entertainment Plc has revealed that the activist fund Parvus Asset Management has built up a 7.1 per cent interest in the company, crossing the 7 per cent threshold required to obtain voting rights. With Parvus having obtained voting rights, the FTSE 100-listed, Irish headquartered gambling company was obliged to disclose the interest.

Parvus has accumulated its shareholding through equity and option swaps, avoiding traditional share purchases. Such financial derivatives allow two investors to swap cash for shares for a set period of time.

The London-based fund held 2.8 per cent of Flutter shares in December 2021 but as of May 30 is now the third-largest shareholder with voting rights after the US pension fund Capital Group, which holds 14 per cent and LSE private equity group Caledonia Investments, which has 10 per cent.

Flutter said: “Parvus Asset Management Europe Limited has been appointed as Investment Manager to a number of funds. Under the terms of the various investment management agreements, Parvus Asset Management Europe Limited holds the power to vote any physical shareholdings held by these clients.”

Led by former Merrill Lynch equities specialist Edoardo Luigi Mercadante, Parvus previously held activist positions in William Hill and The Stars Group Inc. In that instance, it used its influence to demand a business transformation with the aim of achieving a merger or sale. It has not commented on its intentions with regards to Flutter.

Flutter seeks startups to enhance Paddy Power retail offering

Flutter Entertainment is seeking new startups to help it enhance the retail offering at its 625 Paddy Power betting shops in the UK and Ireland.

The company’s Alpha Hub “global innovation community” has opened a call for firms with “tenacious ideas” for the use of data and analytics, in-store experiences and the future of self-service terminals. 

Flutter said it wants to attract retail customers with a shop experience that “can’t be replicated online”. Amid the move to online and omni-channel betting verticals, Flutter says it wants to develop a “frictionless, intuitive self-service” offering, using reliable hardware and software. 

It wants to improve its in-store product and also enhance data collection and analysis from its shops to better use customer insights. Interested companies are also invited to share ideas on safer gambling and improving the retail-entertainment experience in general.

In February, Paddy Power announced plans to update more than 40 of its retail betting shops in the UK and Ireland with digital displays provided by BoscaSports. The upgrades will be complete by the end of 2022 trading, the bookmaker said.