Huntingdon Life Sciences finally received approval from the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission to begin trading as a U.S.-listed company beginning January 24, 2002. If everything goes as planned, HLS will be delisted from the London Stock Exchange, and begin trading as Life Sciences Research on the National Association of Securities Dealers\’ over-the-counter bulletin board market.

The remaining obstacles HLS faces including convincing a small percentage of shareholders to go along with the move as well as finding a U.S. market maker.

In order to completely convert shares of HLS into LSR, the company needs to get the backing of 90 percent of its shareholders. Currently it has the backing of 86.9 percent of shareholders. HLS managing director Brian Cass told the Financial Times that he believed the SEC\’s approval of the deal would ensure that the company would make the 90 percent threshold. \”The SEC rubber stamp should be an encouragement to those who have yet to act,\” Cass told the Financial Times.

Another positive sign for investors should be HLS\’ restated financial report. As part of the approval process, the SEC required the company to restate its financial results under U.S. accounting rules. The company reported a profit of 635,000 pounds for its third quarter, compared to a loss of 1.69 million pounds during the same quarter last year.

Sources:

Animal lab firm to abandon London. The BBC, December 24, 2001.

Huntingdon to begin trading on US market. Patrick Jenkins, The Financial Times, December 23, 2001.