Bidvest appoints advisers for UK listing

Johannesburg - Industrial conglomerate Bidvest [JSE:BVT] on Wednesday appointed Barclays and Investec as advisers for a possible listing of its food business on the London Stock Exchange.

Bidvest's diverse operations from auto showrooms to shipping and office furniture make it South Africa's second-biggest company by sales but it has long acknowledged the need to separate its food business from the rest of the group.

"Shareholders will be kept abreast of any further developments following conclusion of review by banks," it said in a statement.

Bidvest Group CFO David Cleasby told Fin24 in a video interview following the company's annual results release last week that a listing of the food business could be a windfall for shareholders, as food service and catering is one of Bidvest's biggest businesses.

Cleasby said the group's food service has great exposure to many developing parts of the world.

"We are particularly excited about our exposure to the food service markets in Brazil."

Bidvest shares were up 0.29% at R297.08 in early trade on Thursday.

Watch: Bidvest mulls London listing as profits jump