Singapore’s Olam picks London to float ingredients arm

Olam International, the Singapore-based agricultural trading house, said Friday that it plans to list its food ingredients business on the London stock market next year.

Tapping into rising global demand for healthier eating, Olam said in a statement that it intends on having a primary listing in London for Olam Food Ingredients (OFI) -- a boost for the capital's key financial market facing pressure from European rivals following Brexit. A secondary stock market listing is planned for Singapore, the statement added.

"The primary listing... will give us access to London's large and diverse investor base, with its deep and liquid capital markets, and enable us to benefit from its strong understanding of and research coverage across the food and beverage sector," said OFI chief executive A. Shekhar.

"The concurrent listing in Singapore will also enable us to retain our strong local shareholder base and further tap into growing investor appetite in Asia.