The JSE Ltd (JSE-JSE) is where local businesses go to take their private companies public to facilitate open trading in its listed shares with an initial public offering (IPO).
Founded in 1887, the JSE is Africa’s largest stock exchange by market capitalisation and is the 16th largest stock exchange in the world.
Larger companies list on the JSE’s main board while smaller, high-potential businesses not ready for a listing on the main board may list on the JSE’s ALtX, which launched in 2003.
Listing rationale
There are various reasons why established companies choose to go public by listing on a stock exchange, also sometimes referred to as a bourse (the French word for stock exchange).
The main reason why companies list is to raise capital to grow their business. By selling shares to the public through an IPO, companies can access a vast pool of investors.
Following an IPO, companies can use the resultant influx of capital to fund growth into new markets, which may include acquisitions.
They can also use the capital to fund expansion by investing to develop new facilities or new product lines.
Private companies may also list to access capital to reduce their debt to improve financial stability, while others list to increase liquidity to fund operations, weather economic downturns, or capitalise on emerging market opportunities.
Publicly traded companies are also subject to greater scrutiny and transparency, which can build trust among stakeholders and attract greater investment.
The IPO process
The journey to becoming a publicly traded company begins with an IPO. When listing on the JSE, this process involves five main steps:
- Engage with the JSE’s Primary Market team.
- Decide where your company will be most at home.
- Find a sponsor for a Main Board listing or a designated advisor on AltX.
- Submit all required documents to the JSE Issuer Regulation division.
- Undertake a capital-raising roadshow.
South Africa’s biggest IPOs
Over the years, many companies have listed on the JSE – some with a bang, others with a whimper.
South Africa’s largest IPO in recent history was the listing of discount supermarket chain Boxer Retail Limited (BOX-JSE) on 28 November 2024.
The company was previously operated as a division of Pick n Pay, which used the IPO to raise capital to reduce debt and improve the performance of its core Pick n Pay supermarket business.
The recent IPO was well supported by both local and international investors. The order book was oversubscribed multiple times at the top end of the offer price range. The IPO raised R8.5 billion (approximately $471 million).
This was the largest IPO in South Africa since 2017. Prior to the listing, the JSE’s biggest IPO on record was the R15.3 billion ($1.25 billion) flotation of Steinhoff Africa Retail (STAR), the African discount store assets of Steinhoff International, in September 2017.
Other notable listings in South Africa’s IPO history include WeBuyCars (WBC-JSE), which debuted on the JSE in April 2024 at over R8 billion after the company was spun out of its holding company Transaction Capital (TCP-JSE), and the Life Healthcare Group (LHC-JSE) generated $681 million with its IPO in 2016.
Alexander Forbes (AFH-JSE), which was listed on the JSE in 2014, raised $348 million (R3.7 billion) while Dis-Chem Pharmacies (DCP-JSE) raised R4.4 billion (approximately $310 million) in November 2016.
JSE IPOs by the numbers:
- Steinhoff Africa Retail (STAR) – R15.3 billion
- Boxer Retail Limited (BOX-JSE) – R5 billion
- WeBuyCars (WBC-JSE) – R8 billion
- Dis-Chem Pharmacies (DCP-JSE) – R4 billion
- Alexander Forbes(AFH-JSE) – R7 billion
- Multichoice (MCG-JSE) – R2.16 billion
The biggest listings on the JSE in terms of market capitalisation – the total value of a publicly traded company calculated by multiplying the current market price of a single share by the total number of outstanding shares – is Naspers (NPN-JSE), followed by Prosus (PRX-JSE), and then FirstRand Limited (FSR-JSE).
Another listing worth mentioning is DRDGold Ltd (DRD-JSE), which was listed on the stock exchange in 1895 and is still listed today, making it the oldest company on the JSE.R
