Irish building-materials company CRH Plc will ask shareholders to vote in June on moving its primary stock-market listing to the US from London.
(Bloomberg) — Irish building-materials company CRH Plc will ask shareholders to vote in June on moving its primary stock-market listing to the US from London.
Investors expressed strong support for the shift after CRH announced plans for it in March, the Dublin-based company said in a statement Wednesday. The firm plans the move, and to seek inclusion in US equity indexes, as soon as possible, with an extraordinary general meeting slated for June 8.
North America represents about 75% of the company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, and is expected to be a key driver of future growth for CRH, the company said. CRH also plans to give up its secondary listing in Dublin.
“We believe a US primary listing will bring increased commercial, operational and acquisition opportunities for our business, further accelerating our successful integrated solutions strategy and delivering even higher levels of profitability, returns and cash for our shareholders,” the company said.
Shares of CRH fell 4.4% by 9:15 a.m. in London following the company’s trading update. Analysts noted the building-materials firm’s first-quarter like-for-like growth was below peers such as Holcim AG.
European companies increasingly are looking to the US market due to its wider investor base and bigger pool of capital, which offers the prospect of higher valuations. Liquidity has also deteriorated in London in recent years. Technology companies in particularly have shunned the UK, with semiconductor-design company Arm Ltd. deciding against selling shares on the London Stock Exchange.
The transition to a primary US listing “will yield commercial and acquisition-related opportunities” for CRH, Davy analyst Ross Harvey, who has an outperform rating on the stock, said in a note to clients following the announcement.
The firm is also delisting from Euronext Dublin, a blow to the exchange as CRH is the largest Irish-listed company.
(Updates with share reaction and analyst commentary from 5th paragraph. A previous version of this story was corrected to show the company’s primary stock listing is in London)
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