The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is set to welcome the listing of a second fishing company this year with the expected listing of Sea Harvest this month.

This follows the successful listing on the JSE’s main board last week of Premier Food and Fishing (PFF), which is controlled by African Equity Empowerment Investments.

PFF listed 117 million shares and raised more than half-a-billion rand.

Sea Harvest is a subsidiary of Brimstone Investment, which holds an 85 percent stake, while the remaining 15 percent is held by staff.

Brimstone said it expected to retain its controlling stake in Sea Harvest after the listing, with an interest of more than 50 percent.

Brimstone first invested in Sea Harvest in 1998 - a company that now has operations in South Africa and Australia.

It said it would be able to raise R1.5 billion in capital through a private placement with the proposed listing.

The company said the JSE had allowed it to list more than 92 million of its shares in the farming, fishing and plantation sector of the main board of the JSE later this month.

The shares would be sold at between R12 and R14.50 a share. The company said one of the reasons behind the anticipated listing was to allow it more scope for acquisitive growth.

 “The net proceeds received by the company from the offer will be used to raise funds to pursue its acquisitive growth strategy, both in South Africa and in Australia. And provide the company with greater balance sheet flexibility and a listed currency to accelerate its strategic growth plans,” the company said.

Last year, the company acquired a 56 percent controlling stake in Australian-listed Mareterram which catches processes and markets king and tiger prawns and operates a food business. A general meeting of Brimstone shareholders will take place on Thursday to seek their approval for the listing.

The expected listing of Sea Harvest would bring to eight the number of companies listed in the farming, fishing and plantations sector of the JSE. For years, fishing company Oceana had been the lone company in the sector.

PFF last week received a warm welcome on the bourse after its share price, snapped up at R4.50 pre-listing, opened at R4.90. The share went on to close 11.11 percent higher at R5 on its debut.

The company was the first to list on the JSE this year.

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