[2008-05-09]  Blue set to debut on BSE
The pan-African micro-financier, Blue Financial Services, is set to dual list on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) next week in a cash-raising bid to finance new products,while increasing citizen shareholding.

Investor Relations Manager for the lender, Morne Reinders, said from South Africa yesterday that the JSE-listed outfit is listing on the BSE in order to give potential Botswana shareholders both a private and an institutional opportunity to hold publicly-traded shares in Blue.

"We have indicated to the market that we aim to dual list on a number of African exchanges and are proud to announce Botswana as the first of these listings," Reinders said.

The Botswana listing is the second for the company, after South Africa's JSE AltX index debut in 2006. Blue operates in Botswana, South Africa and Zambia and it is eyeing other potential markets on the continent for listing after it has done so in countries where it operates.

When it lists on May 15, Blue will join another micro-lender on the BSE, Micro Provident Botswana, which is listed as Letshego. Micro Provident showed a loan book of P600 million in its latest financial results.

Blue Financial Services Botswana entered the local market in 2002 and now operates through a network of 11 branches around the country.

There are currently eight Botswana shareholders in Blue holding less than two percent of the issued capital. Analysts the BSE listing say will present investors here with equity participation in Blue without diluting current shareholding.Significant fund managers with a presence in Botswana include Botswana Insurance Fund Managers (Bifm), Investec and Allan Gray.

All ordinary shares of the company presently listed on the JSE will be listed on the BSE in the Foreign Company Index (FCI) alongside companies such as Investec and Anglo American.

The company is expected to offer a presentation to retail investors in Gaborone next week Wednesday as part of the listing strategy.


Source: © MMEGI 2002 - 2008