In the 1980s, my young family’s Sunday afternoon ritual was the short drive to the single Nando’s outlet in Rosettenville, a none too salubrious area in the south of Johannesburg. I’d happily join the queue waiting half an hour or so for South Africa’s best spicy chicken and chips. A real life entrepreneurial inspiration, from those humble roots, Nando’s has expanded nationally and then globally to become one of the best known fast food brands in both SA and the UK. It is now at the point of listing on a global stock exchange. For SA investors with long memories, however, the taste is a little bitter. Nando’s shares first listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in the 1997 boom, but went nowhere and despite opposition from many small part-owners, was de-listed six years later. You can’t win them all. – Alec Hogg
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(Bloomberg) – Nando’s Group, the South African fast-food company known for its spicy chicken and fries, is considering an initial public offering, according to people familiar with the matter.
Nando’s is speaking to advisers and is in the early stages of planning a share sale, the people said, asking not to be identified as the deliberations are private. The company is weighing a London listing among other potential venues, they said. No final decisions have been made and the company may look at other ways to raise funds, they said.
Reports about plans for an IPO are incorrect, and the company isn’t looking at ways to raise money, a spokesman said in an e-mailed statement.
An overseas IPO would help the Johannesburg-based company, originally backed by billionaire Dick Enthoven, raise money in a currency other than South Africa’s rand as it continues to expand globally. A Nando’s IPO would follow in the footsteps of other South African companies, such as Steinhoff International Holdings NV and Brait SE, which have primary listings outside the country to hedge against a volatile currency.
A listing in London would also give Nando’s access to a large investor base. Companies raised nearly $8 billion from IPOs in the U.K. last year, compared with $647 million in South Africa, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
The company operates restaurants selling peri-peri chicken in countries including the U.K., the U.S., Australia, India, Malaysia and Qatar. Nando’s started in South Africa in 1987 after entrepreneurs Robbie Brozin and Fernando “Nando” Duarte convinced Enthoven to invest in the Portuguese-styled chain. The company traded on Johannesburg’s stock exchange until 2003 when managers bought more shares and delisted it.
