ANOTHER MOVE10 Dec 2024 15:58
One of the UK’s leading blue-chip companies is preparing to shift its listing from London to New York, dealing yet another blow to Britain’s beleaguered stock market.
Ashtead, the FTSE 100 giant, which rents out equipment to construction firms, said it had concluded the US market was its “natural, long-term listing venue”.
With a value of £27bn, Ashtead’s planned departure marks one of the biggest to hit the Square Mile in the past year, coming days after Just Eat Takeaway said it would drop its secondary London listing.
Ashtead’s bosses said the switch was in the “best interests of the business and its stakeholders”, claiming it would give the company access to “deeper US capital markets”. They said the company would align its listing location with the majority of its business, with the move expected to take between 12 and 18 months.