INEOS considers move to Switzerland to save €450m in tax

04 March 2010 09:21  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--INEOS is considering moving its headquarters from the UK to Switzerland to help make tax savings of around €450m ($616m) between now and 2014, the chemicals major said on Thursday.

The company was looking for approval from its lenders for the move and was conducting an internal review of the proposal.

INEOS said it was trading in line with its business plan and that its financial performance was expected to improve.

The company's expectations of improved performance and changes to the UK tax regime would lead to “additional tax being payable by its businesses; money that would otherwise help secure competitiveness and re-investment across its production facilities”, it added.

INEOS CEO Tom Crotty said: “Many leading chemical companies have European or global operations resident in Switzerland and we need to compete effectively with them.”

“We remain committed to the UK and our facilities will continue to play an essential part in the long-term growth of INEOS,” he added.

INEOS reached agreement with its principle lenders in July last year on €7.3bn of its debt and has been looking at various means to lower the cost of business in the teeth of the economic downturn.

The agreement included a reset of the leverage, interest cover and debt service cover covenant levels, and increased lender remuneration.

INEOS said that its day-to-day operations in the UK and elsewhere in the world would be unaffected by a move to Switzerland.

The company has 3,700 permanent staff in the UK and employs 15,000 worldwide. It makes 70% of its revenues outside the UK but is the country’s largest privately-held company by sales revenues.

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By: Nigel Davis
+44 20 8652 3214

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