Ashtead launches buyback amid FTSE 100 departure
FTSE 100 giant Ashtead has launched a $1.5bn (£1.2bn) share buyback after announcing yesterday it would be switching its primary listing to the US.
In a stock exchange notice today, the construction equipment firm said it had entered into an agreement with Barclays to buy back up to 65m shares over the next 18 months.
With a current market capitalisation of £22.3bn, the buybacks will eliminate just over five per cent of Ashtead’s share capital, though it is authorised to buy back as much as 15 per cent of the company.
Yesterday, the group announced that the US market was its “natural long-term listing venue”, and it aimed to shift its primary listing within the next 12 to 18 months.
The firm’s stock price dropped sharply after the announcement it would be ditching London, having fallen more than 20 per cent since the start of the week.
Ashtead, which was the 25th biggest firm on the FTSE 100 when its departure was announced, is the latest of many firms to leave the UK for a foreign listing this year, with £107bn running from the London Stock Exchange since the start of 2024.
Although chief executive Brendan Horgan publicly backed Ashtead’s London listing on multiple occasions last year, the 77-year-old firm now makes around 98 per cent of its earnings in North America.
“The sole purpose of these share purchases is to reduce the company’s share capital,” Ashtead said.