Flex LNG eyes Oslo Stock Exchange exit

Flex LNG has set out to leave the Oslo Stock Exchange in favour of listing its shares solely in the US.

The Øystein Kalleklev-led company, backed by John Fredriksen, plans to present its plan for voluntary delisting from Oslo in May.

Flex, which also trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), said the move was driven by the relatively high costs of maintaining a dual listing, specifically the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Central Securities Depository Regulation (CSDR), which would drive administrative costs of complying with dual reporting requirements.

The company with 13 LNG carriers in its fleet also noted that the majority of its trading takes place in the US and that loss of Oslo trading should be mitigated by NYSE’s plan to increase its trading hours.

“Having to deal with two sorts of regulations, which is quite costly in terms of consultants, auditors, and such, and given the fact that 95% of our trading today is on the NYSE…we have decided to propose to the board to delist in Oslo and save that money and focus on one set of requirements instead of having to deal with two conflicting sets of reporting,” Flex LNG chief executive Kalleklev told investors at the fourth quarter earnings presentation.