Cape looks to restructure

CAPE, the industrial services group, is looking to move its tax residence to Jersey and Singapore as part of restructuring plans which will see the business move from AIM to the main market.

Cape, which has a number of operations in Yorkshire, said that over the past five years its “geographic mix” had become “increasingly international”, with 67% of profits generated from outside the UK in 2010. 

“The Cape board expects the growth of the business over the next five years to be driven primarily from the operations in international markets, particularly the Pacific Rim and Far East regions, which is the fastest growth market for the group’s range of services,” Cape said in a statement.

“This is expected to continue to be driven by the high levels of committed capital investment in several large scale gas/LNG projects in the region.” 

Cape said it had received strong support from the government of Singapore and has decided that its shareholders would be better served through an international holding company.

“The Cape board believes that the most appropriate structure is for the new group holding company (New Cape) to be Jersey-incorporated and UK listed, with its tax residence in Singapore,” said Cape.

“New Cape will also be tax resident in Jersey, although no tax liability is expected to arise there.”

The proposals will be put to a shareholder vote and Cape expects the costs of the proposals to be around £2m.

Tim Eggar, Cape’s chairman, said: “The board firmly believes that these proposals are in the best interests of the Cape group and its shareholders. 

“The directors unanimously recommend the proposals to shareholders and will be voting in favour of all the resolutions at the court meeting and at the general meeting.”