LONDON: Kingfisher, owner of B&Q, is exploring using an offshore subsidiary to house the company's intellectual property assets, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.
Under the plan, Kingfisher's brands would be domiciled in a tax-efficient vehicle, possibly incorporated in Switzerland, and licensed to its operating companies.
"People close to the group estimate that such a move might save it as much as £30m annually, approximately 5% of the £660m consensus pre-tax profit forecast for this year by City analysts," the FT said.
"For shareholders, that would seem to render it an open-and-shut case, although given Ian Cheshire's ringing endorsement of the Conservatives (he shared a stroll with Mr Cameron round a B&Q store during the election campaign), it might be mildly embarrassing to the prime minister," said the newspaper.
