Cell C’s share price moved sharply higher on its second day of trade on the JSE on Friday, closing 12.7% up at R31, as investors continued to digest the mobile operator’s long-awaited listing.

Cell C Holdings listed on the JSE’s main board on Thursday under the share code “CCD” following a secondary share sale by majority shareholder The Prepaid Company, a subsidiary of Blu Label Unlimited Group.

The offer was priced at R26.50/share, implying a market capitalisation of about R9-billion based on 340 million ordinary shares in issue. Tuesday’s market moved pushed its market value to R10.5-billion.

Trading data for Friday showed the share moving in a band between the high R20s and low R30s on relatively modest volumes, before settling at R31 by the close.

Lock-up arrangements are in place for major shareholders: The Prepaid Company and Cell C itself have agreed not to sell or issue shares for 360 days, while Sisonke Growth Partners is subject to a six-year lock-up, with tightly controlled disposal rights after the first year.

The second-day bounce in the share price suggests there is at least some early investor appetite for the counter after a relatively muted debut, though the stock’s performance in the coming weeks will provide a clearer signal of how the market views Cell C’s turnaround story and its prospects in an intensely competitive mobile market.

Possibly helping lift the share price — and sentiment — on Friday, Cell C announced that Allan Gray, an institutional investor had acquired 15.54% of its shares on behalf of its clients. – © 2025 NewsCentral Media

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