Ethical Holding's London Listing Shelved

The proposed London listing of UK biotechnology company Ethical Holdingshas been abandoned, following the firm's decision to postpone the listing ealier this month (Marketletter July 7). The firm is already listed on the Nasdaq in the USA.

An announcement that the firm would postpone the listing was made before the new Labour government's first budget on July 2, on the back of fears as to what the budget might contain. As it turned out, Ethical's fears were correct, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, announced the withdrawal of the tax credit for dividend payments to pension funds.

This has been seen as a disincentive to investors. Geoffrey Guy, Ethical's chairman and chief executive, commented: "in the light of adverse and competitive market conditions in London, we now consider that a London listing is not the most appropriate means to realize our primary objective of securing maximum shareholder value." The company has appointed Lehman Brothers as new advisors, replacing ING Barings.