French, “and proud of it!” » The CEO of TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné, assured Thursday that his company, which said it was considering a main listing on the New York Stock Exchange, “will not leave France”. “We are not leaving and have never considered leaving. TotalEnergies is a French company, centenary this year, and proud of it! », insisted the boss of the oil giant in an interview with Le Figaro.
At the end of April, Patrick Pouyanné told Bloomberg that he was considering a primary listing of the company on the New York Stock Exchange. The CEO explained to Bloomberg then to the Senate that Americans buy more shares than Europeans.
This prospect was denounced by Emmanuel Macron, who said he was “not at all delighted” at the idea of a listing of TotalEnergies outside France. “I think that Total never had to complain about being French when it went into its export markets. I am convinced that they will mark this attachment and clarify what is rumor, and nothing else,” the president declared Wednesday to L’Express. “I can’t believe he’s moving away from France,” he added.
“Judicial guerrilla”
“I never said that TotalEnergies would leave France, or even the Paris Stock Exchange,” replied Patrick Pouyanné in Le Figaro, assuring that the company was “very attached” to France. The CEO felt that there had been a “translation error”: “a primary listing in our minds, it is not a main quotethis is the listing of TotalEnergies shares, in New York and in Paris.”
Implicitly, the group explains that it wants to access a listing format on the New York market which corresponds to classic shares instead of certificates of deposit which limit it in the number of transactions. “Today, we are already listed in the United States in the form of a Depository Receipt (ADR), subject to the stock exchange regulations of the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission, the American market authority) as foreign issuer (foreign transmitter, Editor’s note),” he explained. “In New York, this instrument (is) less liquid and less attractive than a real share (…) What we are looking to do is just to be able to offer TotalEnergies shares on the European markets and Americans at the same time, to increase liquidity. On reflection, I would say that it is more about cross listing (transversal rating, Editor’s note),” he explained.
Also questioned about a new complaint filed Tuesday against TotalEnergies for involuntary manslaughter or damage to biodiversity, Patrick Pouyanné refused to comment but considered that his company was the victim of “judicial guerrilla warfare”.