British American Tobacco rebuffs shareholder calls to quit London for New York - reports

'Very simplistic' view

British American Tobacco is resisting shareholder pressure to move its primary listing from London to New York, with its new CEO stating relocating was “not a top priority” and a “very simplistic" view.

In March this year, BAT's fifth-largest shareholder urged the company to move its primary listing from London to New York. In an interview with the FT, Rajiv Jain, founder of GQG Partners, a $92bn US-based investment firm, said it "makes no sense" for the FTSE 100 company to remain on the UK stock market and that it had asked its owner to quit London. The investor questioned the company's UK listing, pointing to the US-centric nature of the cigarette maker's business and the valuation gap between the company and its US-listed competitor Philip Morris International, where GQG is a top-...