Iwisa & Snowflake owner Christo Wiese to list Premier Group on JSE

Businessman Christo Wiese has unveiled plans to spin off and separately list Premier Group in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange as per media reports.

BusinessTech Africa has discovered that Wise, a major shareholder at investment company Brait, has announced his ambition in an initial public offering (IPO).

The initial public offering would put the fast-moving consumer goods group, Premier Group, at the value of a staggering R8.6-billion.

Brait, which currently holds 99% of Premier Group, is set to value the shares at between R53.82 and R67.04 per offer share, an equity valuation of between R6.9-billion and R8.9-billion.

Engineering News published that Premier Group’s offering will represent between a 10% and 28% discount to Brait’s latest valuation of the firm.

As Premier Group is known as a fast-moving consumer goods group with roots dating back to 1820, the company boasts brands such as Blue Ribbon bread, Snowflake flour, Iwisa maize meal, Super C sweets, and Lil-lets SA – this company produces feminine hygiene products.

“The decision to embark upon a JSE listing is an important and exciting step in Premier’s growth story,” Premier CEO Kobus Gertenbach said in a statement.

“The transition into the listed environment is expected to support Premier’s efforts to drive its organic and acquisitive growth strategy and strengthen its market position across all business areas. The executive management team will remain materially invested in Premier, thereby ensuring strong alignment between existing and new shareholders.”

Together with recent dividends, the move would result in about R4.7-billion cash inflow for Brait, a company still reeling and recovering from the effects of the raging Covid-19 pandemic.

With Covid-19’s effects well documented, they didn’t spare gym chain Virgin Active as it hit the company hard as Premier Group currently makes up about 54% of Brait’s R19-billion in total assets by Virgin Active at 41%.

It is also reported that Wiese’s Titan Cornerstone Investments has undertaken to purchase 36.2% of the listing shares, while Rand Merchant Bank has signed an agreement to buy 2.4%.

Both companies have now agreed to underwrite the offer to the tune of R3.5-billion, with Titan representing R3 billion of this amount as the report suggests.

“The underwrite significantly de-risks the IPO and demonstrates Titan’s confidence in the Premier business,” said Brait.

Taking a glance in morning trade on Monday as far as shares of Brait – which also released its half-year results earlier – they were trading 7.02% higher at R4.88, thus valuing the group at R6.02-billion.