The secondary listing of Shoprite on A2X Markets will take the market capitalisation of the five-year-old bourse to almost R7-trillion even as listings on the JSE dwindle.
SA’s biggest retailer, which is valued at R131.65bn on the JSE, said on Tuesday it will offer its shares for trading on the alternative exchange on April 11.
The listing will bring the total number of companies on the A2X to 112 with a combined market cap of about R6.7-trillion.
Other blue-chip groups traded on A2X include Naspers, Nedbank, Absa, Discovery, Aspen, Investec, Woolworths, Mr Price, Standard Bank and Sasol.
Shoprite, which owns the Checkers and Usave brands, said the listing won’t affect trading of its shares on the JSE, the Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) or the Lusaka Securities Exchange (LUSE).
“We are delighted to be welcoming Africa’s largest retailer to our platform next week,” A2X CEO Kevin Brady said in a statement on Tuesday.
“As demonstrated by its most recent financial results, Shoprite is an exceptional company that has delivered ongoing growth even in a difficult operating environment. Shoprite joins a growing list of companies that are recognising the value of a secondary listing on A2X and the resultant benefits for investors.”
A2X was granted a stock exchange licence in April 2017, targeting all securities listed on and traded on the equity trading system of the JSE.
A2X CEO Kevin Brady told Business Day in December that lower trading fees and the ability to narrow the bid-offer spreads of the prices of listed securities was saving the investment market about R500m annually.
While A2X has experienced a meteoric rise, rival exchange ZAR X, which also began operating in 2017, had its licence cancelled by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority in February after failing to allay liquidity and capital adequacy concerns.
Update: April 4 2023
This story contains new information throughout
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