Premier Group Limited (“Premier” or “the Company”) has today announced its intention to list (the “Listing”) all the Company’s issued ordinary shares on the Main Board of the securities exchange operated by the JSE Limited (the “JSE”). This is subject to market conditions and the fulfilment of certain conditions (including the JSE's spread and minimum free-float requirements as set out in the JSE Listings Requirements) after which Premier shares will be listed in the ‘45102020 -Food Products’ sector of the JSE under the abbreviated name “Premier” and share code “PMR”.
Home to popular South African consumer brands such as Blue Ribbon, Snowflake, Iwisa, Lil-lets, Manhattan, and many more, Premier is a leading consumer packaged goods (“CPG”) business that offers a diverse array of products across Southern Africa.
The Company provides a multi-brand, multi-product offering across a wide range of categories through numerous channels, strategically positioning itself within the food and beverage and home and personal care sectors and maintaining the flexibility to capitalise on growth areas in the CPG industry.
Premier reported revenue of R14.5bn for the year ended 31 March 2022 (“FY2022”) which represented 16.1% growth over the prior year. This strong performance has continued for the six months ended 30 September 2022, where revenue grew by 23.9% on the prior interim period.
Premier operates two business units, being Millbake which accounted for 82% of revenue for FY2022 and Groceries and International (18% of FY2022 revenue) which houses Sugar Confectionery, Home and Personal Care and Premier’s CPG operations in Mozambique.
Kobus Gertenbach, Chief Executive Officer of Premier, believes that the decision to list on the JSE is an important and exciting step in the Premier growth journey. “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,” says Gertenbach.
Once the Company is listed on the JSE, Gertenbach says the executive management team will remain materially invested in Premier, thereby ensuring strong alignment between existing and new shareholders.
Brait PLC (“Brait”), the ultimate controlling shareholder of Premier, is seeking to raise gross proceeds of up to R3.7 billion through an offer for sale of a portion of its current shareholding in the Company pursuant to the Listing. Brait will remain a significant shareholder of Premier, along with Titan Premier Investment Limited (Dr. Christo Wiese’s investment vehicle), which has undertaken to support the Listing through a direct and pre-committed investment of c. R1.3bn.
The Listing is subject to customary conditions for capital markets transactions of this nature.
In making an investment decision, a prospective investor must rely on his/her/its own examination, analysis and enquiry of the company, the offer shares and the terms and conditions of the offer and admission, including the merits and risks involved.
A pre-listing statement will be published by Premier on, or about, Tuesday, 22 November 2022.