02-06-2025
FTSE pharma giant joins London stock market exodus
A £1.1bn drug company is to quit the London Stock Exchange (LSE) as the troubled market battles an exodus of businesses.
Indivior, which makes opioid addiction treatments, has announced plans to delist in London and focus solely on New York. The company said the move reflected the fact that most of its investors and business were in the US, adding that the depth of the market on Wall Street 'far outweighs' London.
It is a fresh blow for the London Stock Exchange, which has been battling to stop an exodus of businesses either to the US or into private hands. The market has also struggled to attract new listings to replace those that have left, leaving it shrinking.
In total, 88 companies left the London Stock Exchange last year in the biggest flight from the UK's main market since the financial crash.
More broadly, the number of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange has fallen by 40pc since 2008.
Indivior was spun out of Reckitt Benckiser, the British consumer goods giant known for Dettol and Durex, in 2014. A member of the FTSE 250, Indivior is best known for its drug Suboxone, which is used to treat addiction to opioids such as heroin. The company said 80pc of its sales now come from America, reflecting both the size of the market and the legacy of the opioid crisis that has ravaged the US.
The drug company has been listed on the London stock market since its demerger but acquired a secondary listing on New York's Nasdaq exchange in 2023. New York became its primary listing a year ago.
David Wheadon, Indivior's chairman, said: 'A single primary listing on Nasdaq best reflects the profile of Indivior's business.'
Over 70pc of its shareholders are now based in the US and 75pc of trades in its shares are carried out on the Nasdaq exchange, the company said. It added: '[The delisting] recognises that liquidity on Nasdaq now far outweighs liquidity on the LSE.'
The company said the exit would help it cut costs by ending the complexity of maintaining two listings.
The shift follows an overhaul of Invidior's top management in February following pressure from activist investor Oaktree Capital Management. Oaktree accused the company's management of 'doubling down on a failing strategy, ignoring competitive threats and allowing costs to spiral'.
Dozens of businesses have moved their listings from London to New York in recent years, including gambling giant Flutter and construction equipment business Ashtead.
