An AstraZeneca Exit Wouldn’t Doom London
If the pharma giants shifts its primary listing to New York, the focus should be developing a successor.
Some home truths for London: One, it makes sense for AstraZeneca Plc to move its main listing to New York, and two, such a terrible symbolic blow for the UK would be hard to stop. The goal — if it happens — should be to minimize the collateral damage, and foster a successor UK-listed global pharmaceuticals company.
AstraZeneca has the largest market value on the London Stock Exchange, exceeding £160 billion ($216 billon). It delivered a British Covid vaccine in partnership with Oxford University and saw off an unwanted US takeover approach in 2014. A listing switch would provide the ultimate pretext for more FTSE-100 members to decamp too. Such a move could drag the headquarters, high-value jobs and tax revenue with it.