Ozempic maker Novo open to upgrading New York listing

{"text":[[{"start":8.72,"text":"Novo is open to the idea of upgrading its New York listing as part of efforts to boost the Danish weight-loss drugmaker’s profile in the US and following a similar move by UK rival AstraZeneca earlier this year."}],[{"start":22.394,"text":"“I clearly do see some advantages with that,” chief executive officer Mike Doustdar told the FT when asked whether Novo would consider listing its shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange, replacing the American depositary receipts (ADRs) that currently give US investors access to the stock."}],[{"start":39.301,"text":"“I’m a type who doesn’t start with a ‘no’ typically, I start with ‘maybe’, can you give me the pros and the cons of that and let’s have a dialogue and discussions about it,” he added, though he stressed that the company was not currently exploring the idea."}],[{"start":53.365,"text":"Novo, which is Denmark’s largest company by market value, is listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen. But the US is an increasingly crucial market to the Ozempic maker, accounting for the bulk of sales of its weight-loss and diabetes drugs and more than half its revenue, as well as a growing proportion of its investor base."}],[{"start":72.363,"text":"“Our investor community to a larger extent has shifted over the last 20 years [outside of] Scandinavia and we are increasingly speaking to investors in the US . . . in addition to [our long-term investors],” Doustdar said."}],[{"start":84.8,"text":"AstraZeneca listed its own shares directly on the New York Stock Exchange this year, in a bid to attract more investors in the world’s deepest capital market. The FTSE 100 group, which generates almost half of its revenue in the US, kept its primary listing and headquarters in the UK and also has a listing in Stockholm."}],[{"start":104.16,"text":"The topic of a direct US listing for Novo had been discussed in the past decade, said Doustdar. But he cautioned that there had been no “active dialogue or discussions” about the idea since he became CEO just over a year ago."}],[{"start":118.08,"text":"Novo’s shares fell almost 8 per cent on Monday after Doustdar promised to revive the company’s fortunes with new “multi-blockbuster” drugs and branch out into new therapeutic areas at a company investor day."}],[{"start":129.323,"text":"The company’s stock is down over 20 per cent so far this year, taking its market cap to about $176bn according to Bloomberg data. Novo’s market cap soared above $600bn in 2024 and the group was as recently as last year Europe’s most valuable company, having ridden a wave of popularity for its pioneering weight-loss jabs before losing ground to Lilly."}],[{"start":152.56,"text":"The Danish group is now under pressure to strike deals to bolster its drug pipeline and regain ground in the battle with rival Lilly, which has been spending heavily on M&A."}],[{"start":163.44,"text":"Novo, which has reduced its workforce by 13,000 over the past year as part of cost-cutting measures, last week unveiled a rebrand designed to boost its appeal with consumers, ditching Nordisk from its name for everyday use. On Monday it pledged to launch more than five new multi-blockbuster drugs by 2030 as well as consider more M&A."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":181.6,"text":"“It [dealmaking] will continue but it will continue to be disciplined,” Doustdar told the FT. “[We won’t be] going Christmas shopping [because dealmaking] is popular now.”"}],[{"start":193.12,"text":"Doustdar, the first foreigner to lead the Danish drugmaker, acknowledged the growing importance of the US market but stressed the importance of Novo’s Scandinavian roots."}],[{"start":201.755,"text":"“The US is a strategic country now, has been in the past and will be in the foreseeable future,” he said."}],[{"start":207.262,"text":"But he added that Novo was “a Danish-origin company which is now global and international and operates successfully and proudly across all different corners of the world and that’s the type of a company I like to lead”."}],[{"start":207.762,"text":"Additional reporting by Oliver Barnes"}],[{"start":223.84,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1790153756_9546.mp3"}