Elite lists first for 2018
On Tuesday Elite Diagnostic Ltd, became the first company to list on the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) for 2018, bringing the market value of the Junior Market to more than $121 billion.
The five-year-old diagnostic imaging centre exceeded expectations with a 768 per cent oversubscription of its Initial Public Offering (IPO), which raised $144 million when it opened and closed on February 5, according to a recent news release.
While 70.68 million ordinary shares were offered to the public, Elite on Tuesday listed some 353,400,000 ordinary shares on the Junior Market of the stock exchange. Its IPO raised $144 million.
Elite brings to the market 3,000 new shareholders, which far surpasses the minimum requirement of 25 to list on the Junior Market. According to Marlene Street Forrest, managing director, JSE, this puts Elite in an elite group of companies whose shares were also oversubscribed. She also commended the team of arrangers and brokers from NCB Capital Markets (NCBCM) and Sagicor Investments who partnered to bring Elite into the JSE family.
Elite now takes the 35th space on the Junior Market, raising the number of securities to 39. Overall, the company is now 72nd on the list of companies on the entire exchange, bringing the total number of securities to 93.
To date capital raised by the 35 companies on the Junior Market accounts for $7.6 billion. Elite’s listing additionally raises the market capitalisation of the Junior Market to $121.4 billion, indicating the success of the JSE Junior Market which has grown from $503 million when the first company listed in 2009.
“With more people having access to equity capital, it means that more investors are investing in the market and can grow their portfolio. It is a matter of wealth creation. When they invest in companies that do well, then they will benefit also and thus invest in other areas of the economy,” Street Forrest explained.