Beverages group Clover listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) on Tuesday with a market capitalisation of over R2,5-billion.
Clover “successfully listed on the JSE Limited this morning, opening with its first trade at R10,76 per share, giving it a market capitalisation of over R2,5-billion”, the company said in a statement.
Some 54Â 761Â 905 shares were placed at R10,50 per share, raising R575-million.
“These new shares were taken up by leading local and international institutions, and the offer was strongly oversubscribed.”
The capital raised would be primarily used on Project Cielo Blu, which aims to redress “historical inefficiencies” in the supply chain, increase profitability, and expand capacity.
It would include the relocation of production facilities closer to milk sources to bring down distribution costs.
The project would also involve the expansion of key production and distribution centres and warehouses to create sufficient capacity for current and future medium-term growth.
Clover has been operating since 1898 in the dairy and fast moving goods industries. It was converted from a cooperative society into a public company in 2003. — Sapa