The new chief executive of British American Tobacco PLC (LSE:BATS) has rejected calls from a top shareholder to move its primary listing from London to New York saying relocating was “not a top priority” and a “very simplistic view”.
Rajiv Jain, founder of GQG Partners, an American-based investment firm, has encouraged the FTSE 100 owner of Lucky Strike and Dunhill cigarettes to shift its main listing from London, which dates to 1912.
However, Tadeu Marroco, who was promoted from group finance director to the top job in May following the abrupt departure of Jack Bowles as BAT’s chief executive, told The Times said it is “very simplistic to attribute the valuation gap to the place where we are listed”.
“I note that there is an overall difference in terms of valuation between S&P 500, for example, and the FTSE 100, but it’s much more related to the sectors that are present in those indices and the weight of those sectors in the first place.”