- Indivior produces treatments for diseases such as alcohol and opioid abuse
- Drugmaker believes move would attract more U.S. investors
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Indivior shares soared on Tuesday morning after the pharmaceutical group said it was considering moving its primary listing to New York.
The drugmaker believes the move would attract more U.S. investors, who own nearly half of its equity, by raising its profile among U.S. capital markets for providing addiction treatments.
Indivior said the potential change reflected “current and future growth opportunities” for its drugs and would potentially allow them to be included in prominent U.S. stock indices.
Mulling a new move: Indivior believes moving its primary listing to Wall Street would raise its profile among U.S. capital markets to provide addiction treatments.
Individual actions rose 16 per cent to £15.73 in late morning trading, making it by far the biggest gainer on the FTSE 250 index.
Based in Virginia, Indivior makes medications for people suffering from diseases such as schizophrenia, as well as alcohol and opioid abuse.
The company must receive the support of at least three-quarters of the shareholders for the proposal to be accepted.
If that happens, the company will follow plumbing products distributor Ferguson, construction materials supplier CRH Holdings and mining group AngloAshanti Gold in recently shifting its primary listing to New York.
Pearson is also under pressure from its biggest investor to make the switch, while travel operator Tui plans to have an exclusive listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
In a further blow to London’s reputation as a financial centre, Softbank decided to take semiconductor giant Arm Holdings public on Wall Street last year despite intense pressure from the UK government.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “The more companies go down this route, the harder it will be to attract new names to the UK.”
The UK capital is struggling to attract new listings amid strong foreign competition, issues with corporate governance rules and economic uncertainty.
Investors also bemoan the lack of liquidity, which typically keeps stock prices depressed.
Indivior’s announcement came alongside the publication of its annual results, which showed the group’s net income rose 21 percent to $1.1 billion in 2023.
The deal was driven by strong U.S. demand for the company’s Sublocade and Perseris products and buprenorphine medication-assisted treatments.
For the current financial year, the company forecasts net income of between $1.24 billion and $1.33 billion and adjusted operating profits of between $330 million and $380 million.
And in the long term, Indivior hopes that long-term growth will be supported by legislation aimed at combating the opioid crisis in the United States.