15 Mar 2023 Now Premier will list on the JSE
Christo Wiese’s Brait is set to hand the JSE its first initial public offering (IPO) of the year later this month in the form of food producer Premier Foods.
The listing of Premier — which owns brands such as Blue Ribbon bread, Iwisa maize and Snowflake flour — will result in Brait retaining a 47.1% stake in the company, putting Wiese in the pound seats.
Premier will list on the JSE’s main board on March 24. The offer price was set at R53.82 per share, giving it an initial market valuation of R6.9bn.
Brait, the private equity firm that owns Premier, first signalled the intention to float Premier in a stock exchange announcement in November, hoping for a listing for December.
However, the IPO was called off early in December amid market turmoil after it emerged that President Cyril Ramaphosa may have violated the constitution in the Phala Phala forex saga.
Brait said on Friday it had secured commitments from managers such as Allan Gray, Abax Laurium, Mergence and Steyn Capital to subscribe for the shares.
Eligible SA and international investors will acquire up to 65,031,586 ordinary shares, excluding the over-allotment option consisting of 1,858,046 ordinary shares.
Market share
Brait said the listing will enable Premier to access capital markets, which it may use to support and develop further growth in line with its strategy and to finance acquisitions.
The company has about 24% market share in bread, 32% in flour, 20% in maize and 18% in total sugar-based confectionery, according to DataOrbis market share data.
Its main competitors include Tiger Brands, AVI and RCL Foods.
The food maker’s top executives are set be benefit handsomely from the listing and might end up owning 3.5% of Premier’s ordinary shares in issue in the coming years.
Premier intends to declare a maiden dividend in 2024 after the release of the full-year financial results, to be paid out of retained earnings, the company said in its prelisting statement.
In financial year 2022, Premier generated revenue of R14.5bn and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of R1.5bn.
Coca-Cola plays waiting game
Meanwhile, beverage giant Coca-Cola is playing wait and see, further delaying its plans to list on the local bourse, saying the listing would depend on improved market conditions.
“Once market conditions become more favourable, the company intends to list Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) as a publicly traded company via an initial public offering, which we believe will occur subsequent to 2023,” a spokesperson said.
The planned IPO by Coca-Cola was first mooted in April 2021, with the shares to be listed in Amsterdam and Johannesburg. Coca-Cola is said to be targeting a value of $8.1bn, according to Bloomberg.
CCBA is the eighth-largest Coca-Cola bottling partner in the world by revenue and accounts for more than 40% of all Coca-Cola products sold in Africa by volume.
It was formed in July 2016 after the successful combination of the Southern and East African bottling operations of the non-alcoholic, ready-to-drink beverages businesses of The Coca-Cola Company, SABMiller and Gutsche Family Investments.
Source: BusinessLive.co.za