(Reuters) – Bottler Coca-Cola Europacific Partners said on Friday it plans to change its London stock listing category, in a move that would make the company potentially eligible for inclusion in the benchmark FTSE 100 index.
In July, Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rolled out the biggest reform of UK listings rules in decades in a bid to help London compete better with New York and, after Brexit, with European Union financial centres such as Paris and Amsterdam.
A new rule merged the previous two-tier standard and more onerous premium listing segments into a single category, making it easier for companies to become eligible for inclusion in London’s FTSE indexes.
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, which is also listed in New York, Madrid and Amsterdam, has a market value of 32.65 billion euros ($35.42 billion).
A FTSE 100 listing would make it among the top 30 companies listed on the index. The FTSE constituents are reviewed every quarter and the next review will happen in December.
“The transfer would assist in increasing the profile of the company in the UK and Europe, create the opportunity to improve the liquidity of its shares traded through UK equity trading venues and promote its attractiveness to a wider potential investor base,” Coca-Cola Europacific said.
Other companies that have applied to list under the new regime include e-commerce firm THG, meal delivery company Deliveroo and Oxford Nanopore.
The listing overhaul has also set UK’s sluggish financial markets on a path to recovery, with an increasing number of companies such as online retailer Shein and Applied Nutrition, a sports nutrition-related business, looking to list in London.
Coca-Cola Europacific, which bottles Coca-Cola, Fanta, Sprite and Monster drinks in Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand, has requested that the FCA approve the change in its listing category with effect from Nov. 15.
($1 = 0.9217 euros)
(Reporting by Yadarisa Shabong and Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
