James Hardie Industries is mulling plans to move from The Netherlands to the US.
Secret company documents obtained by The Weekend Australian show Hardie would "liquidate" its Dutch parent company, and become effectively an American company registered in Delaware.
However some operations might officially be based in obscure European legal havens to avoid tax, the newspaper said.
The Australian and New Zealand operations, which employ several hundred workers, would be separated from the US company, either sold off or incorporated as independent local companies.
The plan is likely to cause deep concerns to Australian asbestos victims, unions, and the NSW government, which secured a $4-billion deal in which Hardie will pay compensation to thousands of people over 40 years.
Executives familiar with the move said it was being actively worked on, but the fast-track option of completing the restructure by June had proved over-optimistic, the paper said.
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