Pharmaceutical retailer Dis-Chem on Friday listed in the Food and Drug Retailers sector of the JSE’s main board, with shares opening at R23.26 apiece before declining to R20.70 apiece.
It is the second-largest initial public offering on the bourse this year after food services business Bidcorp.
Dis-Chem sold a 27.5% stake to investors at R18.50 a share, valuing the company at almost R16-billion.
“Listing will allow us to advance and improve our strategy, and at the same time ensure that we can continue growing market share across our product offerings, as well as building on the brand positioning that has been established over the last 38 years,” CEO Ivan Saltzman said.
He pointed out that the company planned to double its store footprint in the next five to eight years. It currently owns 101 stores in South Africa and two partner stores in Namibia.
The company plans to open a further eight stores by February 28, 2017, and at least 18 stores during the financial year to end February 28, 2018.
“We will seek innovative ways to increase our brand footprint and we plan on expanding our distribution base,” he said, adding that the company’s loyal customer base has been the bedrock of its success.
He added that Dis-Chem had more than doubled its store base since 2010 and tripled it since 2008.
Dis-Chem joined eight companies that are listed in the Food and Drug Retailers sector of the JSE. The Food and Drug Retailers sector has a total market cap of R220.39-billion, which constitutes 2% of the overall JSE market cap of R13.6-trillion.
It has become the fourteenth company to list on the bourse this year.