TotalEnergies SE Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said the French energy giant is progressing with its plan to list shares in New York in a bid to lure more US investors.
The company is moving ahead with technical work needed to turn its American depositary receipts into shares, Pouyanne said on an earnings call with analysts on Thursday. That could be attractive to US investors, some of whom don’t like the “complexity” of ADRs, he added.
TotalEnergies unveiled the plan earlier this year in an effort to reduce the discount at which it trades compared with US peers. The idea caused a political stir in Paris — including from President Emmanuel Macron — amid concern that it might reduce TotalEnergies’s commitment to France, weaken the Paris stock exchange, and open the door for other companies to move listings abroad.
The CEO has pledged that the company will remain headquartered in France, and keep its listing in Paris and other European exchanges, even if it were to have its shares traded in New York.
The planned US listing isn’t aimed at financing acquisitions, Pouyanne said Thursday in a response to a question from an analyst. The company will update investors on its plan in September, he said.
When asked about France’s political turmoil and the lack of a clear majority in Parliament following recent elections, Pouyanne said it probably won’t “fundamentally” affect the interests of the company. The CEO cautioned that plans for new taxes on share buybacks may resurface, but said it’s unlikely that the government could try to obtain a so-called golden share in the company due to legal and financial complexities.
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