Flutter acquires Sisal, International PPL purchases small UK portfolio

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open 33.7 points higher ahead of the bell on Thursday after having closed 0.61% firmer on Wednesday at 7,341.66

Stocks to watch

Bookmaker Flutter has acquired Italian online gaming operator Sisal from CVC Capital Partners Fund VI for €1.91bn in cash.

Flutter said on Thursday that the acquisition was likely to complete during the second quarter of 2022 and was also expected to be accretive to adjusted earnings in the first 12 months post-completion.

FTSE 250-listed infrastructure investment company International Public Partnerships has bought a small portfolio of UK public-private partnership investments for an initial sum of £3.1m.

International PPL said the portfolio was made up of interests in two community hospitals and minority interests in the Building Schools for the Future projects. Investment in minority interests in a further five BSF schemes from the same portfolio, representing up to £3.0m of additional investment, will be made by the company in the coming months, IPPL added.

Newspaper round-up

Nurses, care home staff and police officers working on Christmas Day will be thousands of pounds worse off than they were a decade ago as a result of wages failing to keep pace with prices, Trades Union Congress analysis has shown. Urging the government to raise the minimum wage to £10 an hour, the TUC said the key workers expected to keep Britain going on 25 December had taken real pay cuts since 2010. - Guardian

The EU has taken a first step in setting a 15% minimum corporate tax for multinationals, in line with a global agreement struck earlier this year, as the White House has hit a hurdle in its efforts to turn the pact into law. Announcing the launch of a new EU tax directive, Paolo Gentiloni, commissioner for the economy, said he expected the 27 member states to agree on the fine details within six months despite concerns held in some European capitals. - Guardian

The publisher of the Daily Mirror faces an intervention by the Pensions Regulator after refusing demands from its retirement scheme to make larger contributions to address a substantial funding deficit. Reach, which as well as the Mirror titles publishes the Express, the Star and dozens of regional newspapers and websites, has hit a stalemate in triennial negotiations with the trustee of its pension fund. - Telegraph

Telsa is being investigated by US authorities for allowing video games to be played on the dashboard while vehicles are moving. The "Passenger Play" feature is used in about 580,000 Teslas in the US. Concerns have been raised that drivers themselves can play games while the car moving, or be distracted by passengers playing on the car's large central touchscreen. - Telegraph

A second former energy company executive is to appeal a bribery conviction as pressure mounts on fraud investigators over their handling of the Unaoil prosecutions. Lawyers for Paul Bond, 69, a former senior sales manager at SBM Offshore, a Dutch company, told The Times that they had lodged papers with the Court of Appeal to challenge his conviction. - The Times

A former hedge fund faces a £40.8m fine from the City watchdog for failing to manage conflicts of interest created by an investment pot that was open only to the firm's employees. The penalty from the Financial Conduct Authority centres on alleged shortcomings in the way that BlueCrest Capital Management UK handled the movement of its traders between an external fund for outside investors and an internal vehicle that managed the personal wealth of its staff and partners. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks booked their second positive day in a row on Wednesday, with the Dow up 261.19 points at the end of the session, as market participants digested third-quarter GDP figures and continued to monitor Covid-19 headlines in the lead-up to the Christmas break.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.74% at 35,753.89, as the S&P 500 added 1.02% to 4,696.56 and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.18% firmer at 15,521.89.