Oilfield services giant Schlumberger to abandon London listing

Oilfield services company Schlumberger has revealed its plans to delist from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) due to low trading volumes and high administrative costs.

Schlumberger said on Thursday that its board of directors in January 2020 had approved the cancellation of the listing of the company’s common stock on the standard segment of the Official List of the London Stock Exchange and the cancellation of admission to trading of such shares on the main market of the LSE.

Consequently, the company intends to apply to the UK Financial Conduct Authority and the LSE to request the cancellation.

The company is required to give at least 20 business days’ notice to the LSE of the intended cancellation and it is anticipated that the cancellation will take effect on or about March 27, 2020.

According to the company, the board approved the cancellation for several reasons.

Namely, only a small amount of trading in the shares is conducted on the LSE; taking into account these low trading volumes and the ongoing regulatory compliance and administrative costs the company incurs annually as a result of its London listing, the board determined that there is no significant benefit to the company in maintaining the listing.

Furthermore, the company does not believe that the cancellation will adversely affect its shareholders, since the company’s common shares will continue to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as well as Paris Euronext, and will continue to be tradeable on various other venues.

As the company has its primary listing and main trading platform on the NYSE, the continued listing on the LSE would not afford the company a significant advantage in terms of liquidity or additional sources of funding compared to the ongoing costs of maintaining the listing, Schlumberger explained.

As a result of its primary listing on the NYSE, Schlumberger will continue to be subject to the rules and regulations of the US Securities and Exchange Commission and all other laws, rules and regulations applicable to a company with a primary listing of shares on the NYSE.

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