By Janice Kew
(Bloomberg) — Anheuser-Busch InBev NV started trading it’s shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange to become the biggest counter on the bourse as the world’s largest brewer prepares to complete its takeover of SABMiller Plc.
The stock debuted at 1,931 rand for a market value of 3.1 trillion rand ($187.4 billion), almost double that of British American Tobacco Plc, which has a market capitalization of 1.6 trillion rand. The securities were trading at 1,936 rand by 10:04 a.m. in Johannesburg after rising to as high as 1,943.99 rand and falling as low as 1,930 rand.
AB InBev listed on Africa’s biggest equity market through a fast-track process that took 21 days to complete since talks first started, JSE Chief Executive Officer Nicky Newton-King said at a conference in Johannesburg.
Read also: AB InBev, SABMiller headwinds. Faces in-depth US regulation.
The secondary listing demonstrates AB InBev’s commitment to South Africa and the rest of the continent, which was critical to the combination with SABMiller, CEO Carlos Brito said. It also paves the way for the listing of the merged company once the transaction is completed, he said.
Carlos Alves de Brito, CEO of Anheuser-Busch InBev "We look forward to getting to know our new investors here in SA." #ABInBev #JSEListing
— JSE (@JSE_Group) January 15, 2016
The Public Investment Corp. is happy with the timing of listing, Dan Matjila, the CEO of the state-owned money manager, said by phone. The PIC is in talks with AB InBev about its concerns over suppliers, especially around agriculture, he said.
