Informa, the publisher behind Lloyd's List, is to desert Britain for Switzerland to avoid “double taxation” controversially introduced by Alistair Darling for profits earned overseas.

The move, announced as the debt-laden company also said that it would tap shareholders in a £242 million rights issue, will save Informa an extra charge of about £10 million a year, based on last year's profits.

Peter Rigby, chief executive, said that the decision was “not political — we have to decide what's appropriate to Informa; this is because we generate 80 per cent of our earnings outside the UK”.

New tax rules, which take effect from July 1, will introduce a tax on profits generated abroad but repatriated to the UK for the payment of dividends. This “double taxation” would have the effect of lifting Informa's overall tax rate from about 27 per cent to 31 per cent.

Like WPP and United Business Media, which have both moved their tax base to the Irish Republic, the stock market listing for Informa will remain unchanged, although its legal incorporation will move to Jersey.

Avoiding double taxation will not cut taxes that Informa already pays in Britain and other territories. Mr Rigby said that Informa would “continue to pay all the taxes appropriate for the UK companies and employees”.

However, the company's move represents an attack on the system of corporate taxation, with executives implying dissatisfaction over constant tinkering with the rules by politicians. Adam Walker, finance director, said: “We are moving to an environment that has more stability; under the Swiss system we can put a structure in place and just leave it there.”

At the same time, Informa conceded that its £1.3 billion debt burden was too high, and in a move to “take talk about debts, cover and covenants off the table” — in Mr Rigby's words — the company is raising cash.

A deeply discounted rights issue will see shareholders offered two new shares priced at 150p for every five they hold. On Thursday, the shares closed at 297p, making the discount almost 50 per cent, but they charged ahead yesterday to close up 38p, or 12.95 per cent, at 335p.

Informa conceded that the difficult economic environment meant that its £1.3 billion of debt, at 3.8 times underlying earnings, was too high. It wants to cut borrowing levels to between 2 and 2.5 times underlying earnings “to strengthen the balance sheet to a level appropriate for market conditions”.

Derek Mapp, chairman, said that Informa would not have breached its banking covenants this year, but with the City concerned about high levels of borrowings, the company argued that it needed “more headroom”.

The new shares and old shares will trade separately from May 11, and investors will have until May 26 to pay, with the deal closing on May 27. At that point the two lines of stock will merge — but on Thursday's closing price, the theoretical share price after the rights issue and the cash being raised will be 255p.

Merrill Lynch and RBS are acting as underwriters, which means that the company is assured of getting the money, as long as shareholders agree to the plan at a meeting on May 8.

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