Julia Kollewe

Mon, Jun 2, 2025, 5:59 AM4 min read

The drugmaker Indivior has become the latest company to abandon its listing in London, heaping further pressure on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to reinvigorate itself.

The Virginia-based company, which makes the opioid addiction treatments Sublocade and Suboxone, switched its main stock listing to the US last year but now plans to cancel the secondary listing it had retained in London.

Indivior said on Monday that in making the decision it had considered the liquidity and trading volumes of its shares on the US’s Nasdaq exchange compared with the LSE; the location of its shareholders; and the cost and administrative requirements related to the London listing.

More than 80% of Indivior’s net revenues come from the US, which has been in the grip of an opioid crisis for decades, after a rise in the use of opioid painkillers led to increasing addiction rates and a sharp rise in fatal overdoses.

David Wheadon, the Indivior chair, said: “A single primary listing on Nasdaq best reflects the profile of Indivior’s business. We appreciate the support received from shareholders for this initiative and look forward to capitalising on the expected benefits of this move, including reductions in cost and complexity.”

The London-listed share price fell by 2% to 925.7p on Monday, giving Indivior a market value of almost £1.2bn.

The LSE has been hit by an exodus of companies, such as the Anglo-German travel company Tui, which opted for a sole listing in Frankfurt last year. Last year, the London market lost 88 companies that delisted or transferred their primary listing elsewhere, the most since the 2009 financial crisis, according to analysis by EY. The London float of Canal+, the TV channel spun off from France’s Vivendi, gave the LSE a much-needed boost in December.

“The London Stock Exchange will be upset it is losing another big name,” said Russ Mould, the investment director at AJ Bell. “It means the pressure is on to attract new names to the market and keep existing ones.”

The blow was softened as the LSE welcomed Anglo American’s $11bn (£8bn) platinum spin-off Valterra, which became independent from the mining company. Valterra is listed in South Africa and will now have a London listing as well.

Mould said he had expected Indivior to exit London entirely, as its business is focused on the US, where most of its shareholders are based. The company had been listed in London because it was spun off in 2014 from the UK consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser, itself listed in London.

Indivior appointed the pharma veteran Joseph Ciaffoni as chief executive in February, replacing Mark Crossley after warning of a sharp drop in revenues this year. Last year, it posted 9% sales growth to almost $1.2bn.