Indivior has announced its intention to cancel its secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), becoming the latest firm to leave the UK capital.

As a result, the pharmaceutical firm, which is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, said it would continue its primary listing on New York's Nasdaq.

It comes after the firm stated in a circular on 3 May that its board would maintain the LSE listing for as "for as long as it is considered to be in the best interests of Indivior and its shareholders as a whole".

However, Indivior said the delisting would fully align with its "most attractive and valuable opportunity set", would better reflect with its geographic net revenue profile, with over 80% of net revenue is generated from the US, and eliminate the cost and complexity of maintaining a secondary listing.

In accordance with UK listing rules, companies are required to give at least 20 business days’ notice to delist from London.

In order to accommodate Indivior shareholders, the company is providing 40 business days’ notice, meaning the last day of trading of ordinary shares on the LSE will be 24 July.

Chair at Indivior, David Wheadon, said: "We are pleased to announce this key milestone for Indivior following our evaluation period. 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 capitalizing on the expected benefits of this move, including reductions in cost and complexity."

Investment director at AJ Bell, Russ Mould, added that Indivior’s departure will be an upset for the LSE as it loses another name, stating that it is another headwind for the exchange operator in trying to reinvigorate the UK stock market.

He concluded: "This isn’t a shock as Indivior had already given enough hints that its future was entirely Stateside. It had already switched its main stock listing to the US and effectively said it would monitor the relevance of the secondary listing in the UK. The latter remark was essentially Indivior only propping open the door for an ongoing London presence with its foot. It was just a matter of time before it walked away entirely.

"Its business is focused on the US and that’s where most of its shareholders are based and where its stock predominantly trades. The London listing only existed because Indivior was spun out of Reckitt, which itself is a London-listed entity. At the time, it made sense to offer a seamless transition and support a London listing for the spun-out entity. Plenty of time has now passed. The demerger happened 11 years ago, and Indivior’s shareholder base is likely to have gone through natural evolution in that time."

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