Events group Ascential PLC (LSE:ASCL) has confirmed it is considering a radical plan to break itself up and shift a big chunk of the business across the Atlantic.
The events side of the business has been battered by the pandemic with digital commerce and marketing now its biggest source of revenue.
According to reports, the events business, which runs the Cannes Lions ad festival and World Retail Congress among others, would remain listed in London but the digital operation would be spun out and listed in New York, where it is likely to receive a much higher stock market rating.
In a statement today, Ascential said it could confirm it was “in the early stages of evaluating the merits of a managed separation of certain assets of the group”.
“Ascential's board regularly evaluates the optimal organisational and capital structure for the business to continue both the successful delivery of the group's strategy for the benefit of our customers and to maximise shareholder value.”
Results last month showed revenues in 2021 rising by more than 50% with digital commerce up by a third. Underlying profits for the year also rose four-fold.
Shares in the FTSE 250 group, which had hit a year’s low of around 315p in February, climbed 8% today to 358p.