Retailer Pick n Pay is listing on the secondary stock exchange A2X Markets (A2X), in November, bringing the number of companies on the exchange to 88.
Pick n Pay's primary listing will remain on the JSE the biggest bourse in Africa, whose market capitalisation and number of financial instruments dwarfs that of the A2X.
Discovery and mining firm Implats, also listed on the A2X earlier this year as the alternative exchange, which was founded in 2014.
A2X CEO Kevin Brady, one of the co-founders of the exchange, said it was good international practice to have more than one trading platform and many countries had multiple exchanges. "Competition is good for the end user. Because ultimately they get efficiencies, they get innovation, they get client service."
"That's like competition in any market, whether it's electricity, whether it's a stock exchange, the car you buy, a restaurant, it's absolutely vital.
"I've never come across an industry where that's not true."
Brady called Pick n Pay "an iconic and trusted brand" and said it was happy to provide Pick n Pay investors with a choice of trading platforms
There is no cost to list on the A2X and it provides investors with the choice to transact on a low-cost platform because it costs less to run as it has far fewer staff and was built with modern technology.
Pick n Pay group chair Gareth Ackerman said: it allowed shareholders who wanted to trade to do so there and benefit from A2X’s low-cost platform.
Ackerman added: “Our listing on the A2X will provide a competitively priced choice for shareholders and helps encourage the development of a healthy local [trading] market.”
The listing will mean the A2X has a combined market capitalisation of about R5-trillion.
Business Day asked Brady why companies join the platform when they are already listed on the JSE and he said, "Obviously we pitch the benefits of a secondary listing. And a lot of companies respond to that." he said.
But in some cases, asset managers or institutional investors push them to do so saying:
"There's no cost. There's no extra work for you. Why wouldn't you do this for us?"
Pick n Pay joins other SA companies including AngloGold Ashanti, AVI, Coronation, Exxaro, Growthpoint, Investec, Mr Price, Naspers, Nedbank, Netcare, Prosus, Remgro, Sanlam, Sasol, Sun International and Standard Bank on the exchange.
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