Betting and gaming group Flutter, which owns Paddy Power, has said that talks with Fox Corporation on a legal dispute between the two companies “have advanced materially”.

The two firms are involved in a legal arbitration process over Fox’s option to acquire an 18.6% stake in US sports betting company FanDuel. Flutter currently owns 95% of FanDuel.

Flutter has disputed Fox's position that it has a right to acquire the interest in FanDuel based for the same price that Flutter paid when it increased its stake in the business in late 2020.

Fox, run by the Murdoch family, had increased its stake in Flutter as part of a share placing in December 2020.

Hearing date set

Flutter issued an update on the situation in its annual results this morning (1 March), saying that both sides had continued talks aimed at determining whether an agreement could be reached before a hearing date on 20 June.

“While those discussions have been productive, and have advanced materially, it remains unclear at this time as to whether agreement can be concluded,” Flutter said.

If there is no agreement, the hearing will go ahead, and the arbitrator will make a binding decision in the third quarter of this year.