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Shell senior executives (New York Stock Exchange: SHEL) in 2021 explored moving the company’s stock listing and headquarters to the US from the UK, financial times reported early Tuesday.
Wael Sawan, now chief executive of Shell (SHEL), was one of the group of senior managers who discussed the advantages of moving the company’s listing and headquarters to the US, according to the report.
The executive team eventually decided to leave the Netherlands, but consolidated its base and listing on the London Stock Exchange.
“During formal discussions on the relocation of the headquarters, Wael did not advocate moving to the US,” Shell (SHEL) said. FOOT.
Although the company did not go ahead with its move to the US, the motivation that led to the possible move remains: Sawan is concerned about the widening valuation gap between Shell (SHEL) and US rivals Exxon Mobil (XOM ) and Chevron (CVX). .
Exxon (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) are valued at ~6x their cash flow, compared to ~3x for Shell (SHEL).
Touting Shell’s “combination of the highest quality assets in the Shell (SHEL) sector, with world-leading LNG and marketing businesses and a strong chemical presence,” Goldman Sachs this week upgraded the shares to Buy with a price target from $85.