CNMV insists ‘no impossibility’. “We’ve looked at the regulatory aspect and haven’t found anything that prevents it. The problem is that no one has tried it yet,” they add from the editor. BME similarly expresses itself: “There is no barrier to listing in New York and that’s how we transferred it to Ferrovial”. They even give an example of the Australian company Berkeley, who wanted to start a uranium mining project in Salamanca at Bolsas y Mercados: “He came here and told us he wanted to be listed in Spain and we helped him and he was listed on the stock market”.
According to Spanish market institutions, momently railway no queries were forwarded find out if it is possible to cite directly in New York; In the opinion of the media close to the government, this shows that the argument used by the company to justify the transfer of headquarters is not correct.
Ferrovial is back
However, Ferrovial argued that the main reason for asking the Shareholders’ Meeting to approve the transfer of headquarters is that in practice Spanish market legislation makes it impossible to list common shares in the US, and only then. through ADRs, which, according to the company, only allow a small portion of the company to be valued. for ferrovial It is strategic to list directly in the United States, because as he insists, more than 90% of the group’s value is in assets located outside of Spain, and over 90% of institutional shareholders are international investors. The company reiterates that “Ferrovial Group also has a growing presence in North America, where much of its current and future opportunities and growth is expected to emerge.”
“Currently, there is no structure that provides this opportunity. According to the available information, to create it independently of possible legislative changes, technical and operational issues would have to be resolved (technological compatibility, rebalancing, balance reconciliations, information protocols…). This requires the time and will of the operators and regulators involved”, quote official sources from Ferrovial to El Periódico de España and Activos, the economic supplement of Prensa Ibérica.
Which Spanish companies are currently listed in the United States?
Many companies, including Ferrovial itself, are available in the United States through the aforementioned ADRs: Banco Santander, BBVA, Grifols, Inditex or Repsol. Apart from such financial instruments, Iberdrola is traded on four Spanish stock exchanges, as well as buying and selling company shares on the London Stock Exchange in the United Kingdom. continues to list its subsidiary Avangrid on the New York Stock Exchange.
One of the last arguments of the company headed by Rafael del Pino is that “no publicly traded Spanish company buys and sells its shares directly on the United States stock exchanges”. Conflicts with Iberdrola’s subsidiary.
The biggest problem these ADRs have is, inability to be listed in a major indexExcept for the Nasdaq, which covers the biggest tech companies, and Ferrovial’s inclusion makes no sense.
Is the operation in danger?
Relocation of Ferrovial headquarters to the Netherlands as a step prior to listing in the United States is subject to approval by the Shareholders Meeting on April 13. Those who voted against will have the right to demand the repurchase of their shares at a cost of 26 euros each. For this purpose, Ferrovial has allocated a maximum budget of 500 million euros, corresponding to 2.57% of the company’s capital. This means if more than that percentage requires a refund, the transfer is compromised.
According to the news of El Confidencial, the person who can vote against is Leopoldo del Pino, brother of the president, who owns 4.15% of the capital. As this paper can attest, Leopoldo would not have thought of demanding repayment of his shares. this would, in his case, serve to stop the change of registered office to the Netherlands.