Transaction Capital’s used car business, WeBuyCars, opened for trading on the JSE, among the first of 10 expected listings this year.

Shares of WeBuyCars opened at R20/share, above the initial public offering price of R18.75/share.

Another listing for the cannabis firm Cilo Cybin Holdings is also expected on 12 April, in a much-needed boost for the JSE, which has struggled to attract listings in recent years.

One of the more highly anticipated offerings is Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, later in 2024. This has been on ice for three years due to unfavourable market conditions and the plan is to have the stock trade on Euronext, with a secondary listing on the JSE.

In addition, Pick n Pay Stores has plans to spin off its discount supermarket chain Boxer, and RCL Foods intends to carve out its Rainbow Chicken business.

WeBuyCars is seeking to grow the volume of traded vehicles from about 14 000 a month to about 23 000 within four to five years, according to CEO Faan van der Walt.

“We have experienced rapid growth within WeBuyCars for a long period now,” he said in an interview. “It’s definitely large enough to merit a separate listing.”

R7.8-billion market cap

WeBuyCars and Transaction Capital raised R902.7-million in capital, they said on Tuesday, ahead of Thursday’s listing.

WeBuyCars sold 40 million shares for R750-million, while its parent company Transaction Capital, an investment holding company, sold 8.145 million WeBuyCars shares for about R152.7-million following a book-building process.

The final number of ordinary shares in issue as at 11 April, the listing date, is 417.2 million, WeBuyCars said, which at R18.75/share implies a total market capitalisation of R7.8-billion rand for WeBuyCars.

Read: Tribunal torpedoes Naspers’s R1.4-billion WeBuyCars acquisition

From a family-owned business founded in 2001, WeBuyCars has grown into South Africa’s leading pre-owned vehicle trader, with a market share of between 10% to 12%. It buys and sells about 13 500 vehicles per month. — Khuleko Siwele and Loni Prinsloo, (c) 2024 Bloomberg LP, and Nqobile Dludla, (c) 2024 Reuters