The JSE will add another US-listed technology company to its ranks as ASP Isotopes (ASPI) prepares for a secondary listing on the local bourse later in 2025.
The listing will help to replenish, at least in part, the exchange’s tech listings, which have dwindled in recent years.
The company announced a proposed listing of its shares on the main board of the JSE, subject to the relevant regulatory approvals. The company’s shares will continue to be listed and traded on the Nasdaq exchange.
“ASPI’s history and technology is firmly rooted in SA and has been developed over four years by the company’s highly skilled SA team members,” the company said in a statement.
It has three plants in Pretoria where it refines the commercial production of Carbon-14 (C-14), Silicon-28 (Si-28) and Ytterbium-176 (Yb-176), which is used in the pharmaceutical, medical, quantum computing and semiconductor industries.
The technology firm was incorporated in the US and has been listed on the Nasdaq since 2022.
Its market capitalisation, at about $400m (R7.5bn), makes it comparable to that of Altron and Lesaka.
“While our investor base has been created in the US and Europe, the beating heart of our company is clearly currently in SA, with 97% of our employees and all our operating assets being located in SA,” said Paul Mann, chair and CEO of ASPI.
“We have to thank our SA staff, service providers and regulators for helping us achieve all we have done over the past four years and therefore we owe it to SA to make our securities available to the local community.”
The company develops technologies and processes for the enrichment of isotopes that can be used in the medical, semiconductor and green energy (nuclear) industries, based on years of research & development originally developed in SA.
ASPI’s listing is good news for the JSE.
The local exchange has seen a spate of exits by technology companies in recent years, including Jasco, Adapt IT, Alaris, Etion and Alviva. Bytes Technology and Karooooo chose to have only their secondary listings on the local exchange.
In April 2024, Mix Telematics concluded a merger with Powerfleet and delisted from the JSE. Powerfleet, with a primary listing on the Nasdaq, has since taken a listing on the local bourse.
The JSE has recently expanded its framework to allow secondary listings for companies primarily listed on other international exchanges in a bid to boost liquidity.
With a total market value of more than R19.7-trillion, the bourse is still by far Africa’s largest and most liquid, but the volume of listed shares on its platform has been shrinking over the past two decades, prompting concern among money managers who are left with fewer potential investment opportunities.
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