JOHANNESBURG - JSE-listed Dis-Chem Pharmacies fell more than 11percent on the JSE yesterday after the company said it had raised R1.12billion in accelerated bookbuild through the sale of 32million ordinary shares at R35 each.
Dis-Chem said the price represented a 9.3percent discount to the pre-launch closing price of R38.58 a share on Monday.
The shares closed 11.74percent lower at R34.05.
The company initially wanted to sell 31million ordinary shares, but strong demand pushed it to 32million, which were snatched up in less than 24 hours.
It said the offer was made available to qualifying investors only and not to the general public.
“Dis-Chem is pleased to announce that the bookbuild has now closed,” Dis-Chem said. “Following strong demand, Ivan Saltzman, Stan Goetsch and Niall Hegarty, the selling shareholders, have raised a total of R1.12bn through the sale of 32million Dis-Chem ordinary shares.”
Dis-Chem says it will continue to grow and remain focused on adding retail stores to its base.Photo: Simphiwe Mbokazi/African News Agency (ANA)
Dis-Chem said founder and chief executive Saltzman would still own majority shareholding, with 52.7percent of the group, after the bookbuild.
It said Goetsch and Niall would own 6percent and 3.2percent respectively of the issued share capital.
Dis-Chem listed last November and is one of South Africa’s leading pharmacy groups.
In its results for the six months to August, Dis-Chem announced that it had increased its number of new stores by 19 during the entire year.
It reported a 13.3percent increase in turnover to R9.61bn, compared with R8.48bn last year, and said that retail turnover increased by 15percent with like-for-like turnover increasing by 8.6percent during the period.
The group has 118 stores and it has a target of reaching 200 stores by 2022/23.
In addition, the group increased its wholesale space during the period. CJ Distribution wholesale space now totals 80123m² was increased with the addition of the Cape Town space of 15693m², which was completed in July.
The group said management believed that the wholesale space was fully invested and would be able to accommodate the retail and wholesale growth strategies over the next three to five years.
The group indicated that from the increased wholesale space CJ Distribution would be focusing on increasing its current market share by continuing to service Dis-Chem, increasing supply to a greater number of The Local Choice franchisees and serving a greater number of independent pharmacies.
Dis-Chem indicated that it would continue to grow and to remain focused on adding retail stores to its base and growing market share.