Unilever set to leave the FTSE 100 after moving its HQ to Rotterdam
UNILEVER’S SHARES are “extremely unlikely” to continue trading in the FTSE 100 after the company announced it is ditching its London base and dual headquarters for a single site in Rotterdam.
Its chief financial officer, Graeme Pitkethly, said that the company has been “engaging extensively” with the FTSE Russell, the FTSE’s governing body, in recent months over its plans to simplify the business.
Without a UK headquarters, Unilever is expected to fall short of requirements which would allow a listing on the FTSE 100, where its shares currently trade.
The decision to block Unilever’s shares from the FTSE has yet to be fully confirmed as the company still has to publish and distribute official documents to shareholders about the move.
That is expected to take place within the next two months, making it likely that Unilever will be taken off the FTSE 100 by year-end. It comes just months after Unilever confirmed it had chosen Rotterdam over London as its new legal headquarters, a move which has yet to be put to shareholders at an extraordinary meeting expected to be held in the third quarter.
The announcement was seen as a major blow to the UK Government as it tries to uphold Britain’s status as a centre for business after Brexit.
Unilever executives claimed that the move to Rotterdam has “nothing to do with Brexit”, but the decision was seen to cause embarrassment for the Conservatives, who are struggling to contain a flow of businesses and their staff to the EU.
The Government is under fire for failing to provide adequate assurances to businesses mulling their post-Brexit futures.