British American Tobacco (BAT) is facing pressure to move its primary listing to New York after a top-five shareholder said it “makes no sense” for the cigarette maker to remain on the UK stock market, according to the Financial Times, reports ASH Daily News.

Rajiv Jain, founder of USD 92bn US-based investment firm GQG Partners, told the Financial Times he had urged the management of the FTSE 100-listed owner of Lucky Strike and Dunhill to call time on a London listing which dates back to 1912.

BAT is an “orphan in Europe”, said Jain. “The core ownership base [of BAT] has disappeared. It makes no sense for them to remain there.” Pointing to the US-centric nature of the FTSE 100 company’s business and the valuation gap between BAT and its US-listed peer Philip Morris International, in which GQG is a top-10 shareholder, he asked: “What’s the point of remaining listed in London?”