Ineos Capital (Lyndhurst / UK; www.ineos.com), finance arm of the chemicals and plastics producer, says it may move its headquarters and tax residence from the UK to Switzerland, to seek relief from proposed higher taxes in its current home country. Ineos has called on its lenders to facilitate a move to Switzerland, pending the outcome of an internal review. The group, which in mid-2009 reached agreement with its senior lenders on the financing of its EUR 7.5 bn debt – see Plasteurope.com of 20.07.2009 – said it has “no plans” to move any production activities.

The UK chemical producer says it “has weathered the current recession well,” stabilising its business and trading in line with its plan. Here, the expected improvement of its financial performance “over the longer term” appears to be the motivation for the proposed relocation, given expected changes in UK tax legislation that “will result in significant levels of additional tax.” This, Ineos suggests, would tie up money “that would otherwise help secure competitiveness and re-investment across production facilities.” CEO Tom Crotty noted in a statement that “many leading chemical companies have European or global operations resident in Switzerland and we need to compete effectively with them.”

Ineos, whose mastermind Jim Ratcliffe built up a sizeable, and in boom times thriving, business with other companies’ discards, estimates potential cash tax savings of around EUR 450m up to 2014 in a move to Switzerland. But even in a move abroad, the group says it “remains committed” to production in the UK, where it employs 3,700 permanent staff and 1000 contractors at eight sites. Worldwide staff numbers 15,500 people at 64 plants in 14 countries. Ineos claims to generate 70% of its revenue outside the UK.