Ashtead plans to move listing to New York in fresh blow to London

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Construction equipment rental group Ashtead has announced plans to move its listing from London to New York, in another blow to the UK stock market.

In a statement on Tuesday, the FTSE 100 group said: “The board has concluded that the US market is the natural long term listing venue for the group” and that moving its primary listing to New York was in its best interests.

Almost all the group’s operating profit comes from North America, a key area of growth for the business. The company, which has a market valuation of £28bn, added that its executive management and operational headquarters were in the US, as were most of its staff.

Ashtead also said that there would be “enhanced overall liquidity in the group’s shares given access to deeper US capital markets”.

It added that it would retain a listing in the UK, on the international companies segment of the London Stock Exchange.

The move will be subject to shareholder approval.

Ashtead’s decision follows moves by fellow FTSE 100 groups, including Flutter, which owns Paddy Power, and building materials group CRH. Ferguson, previously known as Wolseley, switched its listing to the US in 2022, while earlier this year an activist investor called on engineer John Wood Group to consider a similar shift.

Last year, Ashtead said that it had no plans to move its listing to the US, with chief executive Brendan Horgan saying “I prefer to focus on growing the business”.