Bidcorp gets warm welcome on the JSE

Bernard Berson. Photographer: Richard Strever/Zoom Photography

The new standalone domestic and foreign food services businesses that make up Bidcorp kicked off the day at R270 a share, closing well up at R304, giving the company a market capitalisation of about R102bn.

The remaining listed Bidvest Group’s share price plunged 67.99% from a close of R370 on Friday to just more than R118 at the close on Monday.

This gave it a market capitalisation of about R40bn.

This meant the overall market cap of the two new separate entities was about R18bn more than that of the original group at the JSE’s close on Friday.

"The warm welcome given to the new listing, Bidcorp, and the fact that the combined share prices significantly exceeded Bidvest’s pre-unbundling close, indicates that the market believes new energy will be released in both companies," Stephen Meintjes, an analyst at Momentum SP Reid Securities, said on Monday.

Former Bidvest Group chief financial officer David Cleasby — now Bidcorp’s — said he had thought before the listing that the new standalone food services business was worth about two-thirds of the original total group value. "It has outperformed," Cleasby said.

"I am sure it is going to be another anchor tenant in our Top 40," JSE CEO Nick Newton-King said on Monday, referring to both Bidcorp and the original Bidvest Group.

The JSE was worth about R15-trillion, she said, and SA’s capital markets had consistently ranked first or second globally for good governance. Bidcorp CEO Bernard Berson said after the opening on the JSE on Monday that he was happy with the stock’s level. "It shows confidence," he said.

The listing represented the next step in Bidcorp becoming a global leader in the food services industry, Berson said, "and positions us superbly for our next phase of organic and acquisitive growth". Outside of the US, Bidcorp had few rivals.

Mark Hodgson, an industry analyst at Avior Capital Markets, on Monday said the listing had "materially unlocked" overall shareholder value, with the two new entities’ overall market cap increasing more than 14% on that of the old Bidvest Group.

Bidcorp’s closing price and "very warm reception" by the market had far exceeded his initial expectations, he said. Bidcorp was being priced as a premium international food services company, Hodgson said.

Nearly 72% of original Bidvest Group value now resided in Bidcorp. "The remaining Bidvest group listing had a subdued debut and was underwhelming in comparison," Hodgson said.

The original Bidvest Group had its roots in the Chipkins and Sea World food businesses about 30 years ago.

At the time, the group was under Bid Corporation, the "pyramid holding company".

"I am excited about the prospects that lie ahead," Bidvest founder Brian Joffe said on Monday. "(Bidcorp’s share price shortly after the open was) about my expectation — Bidvest is down a lot. It’s a market," he said.

Cleasby said the listing in Johannesburg was "proudly South African" and had given domestic shareholders an opportunity to benefit.

"It was a no-brainer," he said.

More than 50% of foreign institutional shareholders had gained a beneficial one-for-one share split in the two new entities, Cleasby added.

Jacko Maree, former CEO of Standard Bank, who attended the launch of Bidcorp, said, "It is just amazing what Brian Joffe has achieved in such a short space of time."