AstraZeneca ottiene l’approvazione degli azionisti per la quotazione a New York

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>AstraZeneca has won a shareholder vote approving plans for the FTSE 100’s largest company to elevate its New York listing, in a blow to the London market.

>A total of 99 per cent of voting shareholders backed the company’s proposal to list shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange, replacing the American depositary receipts that until now have given US investors exposure to the company.

>The votes cast represented almost 80 per cent of the issued share capital. About 0.6 per cent of voting shareholders did not back the plans.

>Chair Michel Demaré described the move as creating a “global listing for global investors in a global company” and offering “the flexibility to access the broadest available pool of capital”.

>He added that the vote “demonstrates strong shareholder support for AstraZeneca’s harmonised listing structure in London, Stockholm and New York”.

>The new regime, under which trading is expected to start on February 2, is part of the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker’s pivot towards the US, where almost half of its revenue is generated.

>The company has announced plans to invest more than $50bn in the US in the next five years and last month became the second group to agree a drug pricing deal with the Trump administration.

>AstraZeneca still intends to retain its primary listing in London, stay in the FTSE 100 and remain headquartered in the UK.

>Demaré addressed shareholder concerns at the general meeting, saying the move would not affect the company’s environmental, sustainability and governance commitments, nor change its global footprint.

>The UK government and the London Stock Exchange are battling to boost London’s appeal as a listing venue after several companies have gone private or shifted their listings to the US in recent years.

>AstraZeneca’s move could cost the UK hundreds of millions of pounds in lost stamp duty, according to private estimates by the Treasury reported by the Financial Times.

>Proxy advisers including ISS and Glass Lewis, as well as AstraZeneca’s board, recommended that shareholders vote in favour of the resolution.