AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot reportedly went to London on June 28, 2023, hoping to transfer the company’s stock listing from London to the United States.
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Pressure is piling up in London’s stock exchanges, with reports of British drug giants AstraZeneca It could be moved to the U.S., another blow this week.
CEO Pascal Soriot is considering transferring the company’s stock listing from London to the United States, UK newspaper era The report said anonymous sources were cited Tuesday afternoon. Soriot is said to be frustrated with the UK regulatory environment, especially rules surrounding new medical approvals and drug pricing systems – but is said to be pushing the move.
AstraZeneca declined to comment on the New York Times report.
According to LSEG data, given that AstraZeneca is the most valuable business listed on London’s FTSE 100, the company’s exit from the UK market will trigger a major index reweighting. According to LSEG data, AstraZeneca’s market capitalization is £161.2 billion ($221.1 billion).
Astrazeneca’s potential transatlantic move will intensify concerns about London’s vulnerability as a global financial hub. Many companies have emerged from the London market or have reconsidered plans for floating stocks over the past year.
Toni Meadows, head of investment at BRI Wealth Management in London, marked the rumored listing considerations of Astrazeneca as a “disappointing” UK stock market, but admitted that it is not surprising given that it will constitute the latest developments with a broader trend.
Earlier this year The report appears That giant Chinese fast time Shein wanted to be listed in Hong Kong instead of London in public. Last week, news agency Reuters Report The company is planning to submit a secret IPO in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, metal investor Cobalt Holdings Announced in June It is moving its main list from London to New York.
Wise CEO and co-founder Kristo Kaarmann said in a statement that the move will help raise awareness of U.S. companies while allowing the company to better access to “the world’s deepest and most popular capital markets.”
Historically, companies listed in London have been valued much lower than their Wall Street valuations. Research Last year, UK investment manager Rathbones came from an investment manager in the UK, and the vision ratio of UK stocks was 32% lower than in a similar way in the United States.
On the other hand, the Financial Times Report Last week, Norwegian software giant Visma chose London to make its debut in the public market.
“Big companies like AstraZeneca are looking for valuation improvements, from reaching a wider range of investors, they will move from being listed in the U.S.,” Bri’s Meadows told CNBC via email on Wednesday.
Meadows added: “The trend of mobile listing or acquisition sources of UK listed stocks highlights the value of the UK stock market, but that would not help and would encourage the supply of new companies listed here to support the index’s future position in the global environment.”
“British lost its advantage”
Claire Trachet, founder of M&A Trident, said that transferring its listing to New York would represent a “memorable loss” on the London Stock Exchange.
“Given the complexity of the company, this is not only due to the liquidity or valuation advantages that the departing company often cites, but also the underperforming capital market, three regulatory restrictions, and the misstep incentives that make it harder to scale and reward innovation at home.”
Trachet added that in recent years, London-listed companies worth more than $100 billion have moved to New York – AstraZeneca alone will more than double that number.
“The potential move has painfully shown the global market that the UK has lost its edge in the demands of world-class, scale-driven companies,” she said. “This is not an isolated story – it is the biggest problem. It is part of a broader shift, where the founders and boards are increasingly looking to the U.S. to seek deeper capital, stronger support and a more ambitious investor base.”
Tom Bacon, a London partner at global law firm BCLP, who has worked on mergers and acquisitions and corporate financing, marks reports that Astrazeneca Soriot is eager to move from London “very worrying”.
“I think this should alert the UK government, and they need to do more to support cities and our stock markets and our key industries such as life sciences and medicines,” he said.
List changes to “not easy to start”
Dan Coatsworth, an investment analyst at AJ Bell, said Wednesday that AstraZeneca’s reporting plan appears to be driven by business demand rather than pursuing higher valuations – but added that moving the company’s list on the Atlantic Ocean “is not an easy action.”
“Unlike many other defectors in the UK market, Astrazeneca has a dominant U.S. shareholder base with more geographic investors,” he explained in an email.
However, Astrazeneca generates about 42% of sales from the U.S. and has plans to increase its operating footprint in the country, Coatsworth noted.
Earlier this year, CEO Soriot Tell CNBC AstraZeneca is “very dedicated to the United States” and the company has two large R&D centers.
AJ Bell’s Coatsworth told CNBC that the CEO of AstraZeneca could also list the full U.S. inventory as a “stepping stone to receive a better course of treatment.”
European pharmaceutical companies face uncertainty in the future of the U.S. market, with U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to impose department-specific tariffs on drug imports.
While the industry was exempted from Trump’s so-called reciprocity tariff plan when it unveiled in April, White House leaders have been The department will be investigated By the U.S. Department of Commerce, warn Pharmaceutical tariffs are about to be launched. Signed an executive order Instruct medical manufacturers to reduce the price of certain drugs by the fees paid overseas.
