CA Sales debuts on 4AX
CA Sales made its debut on the 4 Africa Exchange on Tuesday, making it the third company to list on the exchange. The fastmoving consumer goods company opened trade at R4.48, giving it a market capitalisation of R1.8bn.
CA Sales made its debut on the 4 Africa Exchange (4AX) on Tuesday, becoming the third company to list on the exchange.
The fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company opened trade at R4.48, giving it a market capitalisation of R1.8bn.
4AX was granted a licence in August 2016 and, together with ZAR X, became the first two stock exchanges to enter a market dominated by the JSE for at least half-a-century. A2X Markets is expected to begin trading before the end of 2017.
CA Sales Holdings, a subsidiary of investment group PSG Capital, operates in eight territories in sub-Saharan Africa, dealing in sales, merchandising, warehousing and distribution in the FMCG trade. CA Sales will also list on the Botswana stock exchange this week.
CEO of CA Sales Frans Britz said the 4AX listing would give credibility to the brand while getting exposure to other markets through the exchange. “Companies get lost in bigger exchanges, especially the small to medium-sized ones,” he said, adding that listing on the 4AX was easier. 4AX CEO Fay Mukaddam said CA Sales was a solid company with a “serious footprint” on the continent and an amazing balance sheet. “This listing is fabulous because it does show the ability for Africa Exchange to deliver a truly alternative platform,” she said.
But for the relatively new exchange, the challenge remains differentiating itself from others. Mukaddam said that the new exchanges were often lumped together and pitted against the JSE, without consideration of their various offerings.
She said 4AX was the only one of two that could trade across equities and debt, and across all asset classes. It was also the only exchange to own its intellectual property and was hosted in the cloud.
Agri-businesses NWK Holdings and NWK Limited were its other listings. 4AX planned to add renewable energy and property development companies to the bourse.