After Ocado Group PLC (LSE:OCDO) was the latest name to be bandied around as a potential defector from London to New York in search of a better valuation, it was suggested that the company has an alternative route to enable investors to see it as a tech company rather than just a wannabe.
A newspaper report at the weekend suggests one or two shareholders have told bosses that they should seriously think about switching listing venue across the pond to achieve a higher valuation.
Ocado founder and chief executive Tim Steiner "could be persuaded" to make the Stateside move over his and the board's longstanding frustration that many investors think of the company more as a loss-making online grocer than a bona fide technology startup, albeit one founded in 2000.
If Ocado was seen by the majority of investors as a tech company it would "not only help its aspirations to be a much bigger player in the grocery services industry, but also to get investors to ascribe a different and potentially higher earnings multiple to its stock", said analyst Russ Mould as AJ Bell.
Making amends with UK joint venture partner Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LSE:MKS) is "one obvious route in its reinvention", Mould adds, after Ocado's threat that it may have to sue M&S over a refused milestone payment for their shared grocery operation.
"Ocado could sell its share of the venture to M&S and then concentrate on being a pureplay tech company," he suggests, and negotiate a settlement as part of a sale of its share in the venture rather than make legal threats.
"In doing so, Ocado would no longer be associated with the little vans that deliver loaves of bread to Mrs Miggins. That act in itself would be an important first step in trying to get the market to look at the business in a different way."
Until the shares are no longer associated with the multicoloured grocery delivery vans the company faces "an uphill battle" with investors, says Mould, though he acknowledges that upping sticks from London and moving to a different country where there are no preconceptions might also achieve the same aim.
Which is the most cost-effective could be the main consideration that decides which choice the board makes.