The industrial equipment hire company Ashtead Group has proposed moving its primary stock market listing to America, becoming the latest in an exodus of blue-chip companies from London.
The board said that the US was the “natural long-term listing venue” for the group and a shift would enhance both its liquidity and profile in its biggest market.
The US is home to Ashtead’s headquarters and the majority of employees, and accounted for 98 per cent of operating profits last year under the Sunbelt Rentals brand, which it acquired in 1990.
Ashtead would assume Sunbelt Rentals as its main corporate identity and retain a secondary listing in the UK under the proposal, which will be implemented in the next 12 to 18 months subject to shareholder