SKF Seeks Delisting From Three Exchanges

SKF AB (Sweden), the world's largest bearing manufacturer, said it intends to delist itself from three of the five equity exchanges where it now trades. Currently, SKF B shares (each of which has 1/10 of a vote, vs. A shares which carry one full vote) are traded on the London, Paris, Zurich, and Stockholm exchanges, while American Depository Receipts (ADRs) trade on the U.S. NASDAQ (an ADR is a negotiable certificate issued by a U.S. bank; it represents a specific number of shares of a foreign stock traded on a U.S. stock exchange). Citing the globalization of trading and resulting low volumes on the secondary exchanges, SKF is seeking approval to withdraw from all but two. The company said there is no longer a need for "local" exchange listings for access to liquidity. Stockholm (80%) and London (18%) carried virtually all of SKF's trading volume in 2002. Paris, Zurich and NASDAQ, sharing the remaining 2%, are on plan for delisting. SKF said it will not sever all U.S. equity market ties; it will keep B shares registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and will maintain its U.S. ADR facility.