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Shell (NYSE:SHEL) is considering leaving the London Stock Exchange in favor of a New York listing, with CEO Wael Sawan saying Tuesday that oil companies listed in the U.S. benefit from higher multiples, greater access to capital and a friendlier investor base.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Sawan said Shell (SHEL) has “a location that clearly seems to be undervalued,” and if the valuation gap continues into mid-2025, Sawan suggested that “all options” would be on the table, including switching the listing to New York, according to the report.
The comments spark fears that Shell (SHEL), the U.K.’s most valuable listed company, could become the latest blue chip business to leave the London exchange.
“It’s a major issue,” former Shell (SHEL) CEO Ben van Beurden told the Financial Times Commodities Global Summit in Switzerland when discussing the valuation gap between European and North American oil and gas players.
While relocating listings seems an obvious solution to the problem, doing so is not straightforward, Van Beurden also said; in the meantime, Shell (SHEL) must demonstrate its superior worth despite being “massively undervalued.”
