The Money Maze
Listen

The Money Maze TMM Nº 021

Dual Listings and Delistings: Why SA Companies Pack for London

5 min

Loads the Spotify player. Spotify sets its own cookies.

Dual listings and delistings explained: why JSE companies list in London, New York or Amsterdam, why others go private, and the risks for local investors.

Show notes

Why do some companies list in two places? Why do others pack up and leave the JSE completely? And why does London look like the Sandton City of stock exchanges for South African companies? Grab your passport.

By The Money Maze | Listen to the episode: Spotify

The JSE is Africa’s biggest stock exchange, but it’s been shrinking for years. Understanding dual listings and delistings helps explain why, and what it means for the shares in your portfolio.

What is a dual listing?

A dual listing is when a company’s shares trade on more than one stock exchange. Anglo American, for example, has its primary listing in London and a listing on the JSE. Same company, same business, two places to buy it.

It’s like selling boerewors rolls at both the rugby and the cricket. More foot traffic, more sales, same wors.

There are flavours:

  • Primary listing: the main home, where the company follows the full listing rules.
  • Secondary or inward listing: an extra listing on another exchange, usually following the primary market’s rules, like ASP Isotopes listing on the JSE in 2025 with Nasdaq as its main home.
  • Dual-listed company structures: some groups, like Investec and Mondi historically, have had separate legal entities in London and Johannesburg operating as one economic group.

Why companies dual list

  • Bigger pools of money: London, New York and Amsterdam have far more global institutional investors than Johannesburg.
  • Visibility: more analysts, more coverage, more index inclusion.
  • Currency: raising capital in dollars, pounds or euros can suit companies with international operations.
  • Valuation: companies hope a global listing will earn the higher valuation multiples their peers get offshore.

AngloGold Ashanti is a recent example. It moved its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange in 2023, keeping a JSE listing, explicitly to close the valuation gap with North American gold miners.

Why the JSE is losing listings

The JSE now has fewer than 300 listed companies. When ASP Isotopes listed in August 2025, the JSE said it took the count to 276. A generation ago there were far more. Why?

  • Liquidity: fewer buyers and sellers make it harder to raise big money locally.
  • Cost and compliance: listing fees, audits, reporting and governance requirements add up, especially for smaller companies.
  • The valuation gap: many boards believe the JSE undervalues them. It’s like selling your Golf GTI in a small dorp where nobody has cash.
  • Take-privates: if the share price stays low for long enough, a buyer will eventually offer to take the company off the market.

Why companies delist

  • Buyouts: Clover was taken private by a consortium led by Milco. Curro went to a nonprofit in January 2026. Massmart was bought out by Walmart in 2022.
  • Low valuations: when the market price is low, private buyers see a bargain.
  • Admin fatigue: if you’re doing roadshows for a handful of investors and paying for the privilege, why bother?
  • Moving offshore: some companies keep their foreign listing and drop the JSE one.

The JSE has responded with “cutting red tape” reforms to make listing cheaper and simpler, and by courting secondary listings from foreign companies.

Naspers and Prosus: the case study

No JSE conversation is complete without Naspers and Prosus. Naspers grew so large, largely thanks to its Tencent stake, that it dominated the JSE’s indices, which limited how much local funds could own. In 2019 it listed Prosus on Euronext Amsterdam to tap global investors and reduce its JSE weight, while keeping a JSE listing for Prosus too.

Did it close the discount between the value of the stakes and the share prices? Partially, with the help of years of share buybacks. It shows how complicated cross-border structures can get.

How to check where a share’s real home is

Before buying a dual-listed share, look at the company’s investor relations page or its SENS announcements. They’ll say where the primary listing is and which rules the company follows. Then compare trading volumes: if ten times more shares change hands in London or New York, that’s where the price is really set, and the JSE line is the follower. It also tells you which time zone will deliver the big news, so don’t be surprised when results land while you’re asleep.

Risks for retail investors

  • Currency: if you buy the London or New York line, you’re dealing in pounds or dollars, with forex fees.
  • Price gaps: the JSE line can trade at a small premium or discount to the primary market, especially when local liquidity is thin.
  • Liquidity: the primary market usually leads. The JSE price follows.
  • Delisting risk: a company can drop its JSE listing and leave local holders needing an offshore account.

Stokvel Starter Pack

  • Dual listing: same company, listed on two exchanges.
  • Primary listing: the main home.
  • Secondary or inward listing: an extra listing that follows the primary.
  • Delisting: leaving an exchange, usually due to a buyout, low valuation or cost.
  • Valuation gap: when the same type of business trades cheaper in one market than another.

Takeaway: Companies go where the money is. For investors, that means more choice offshore and a smaller menu at home. Check where your shares’ primary market is, because that’s where the price is really set.

Want the full braai version? Listen on Spotify. And if you’d like the Maze in your inbox, join the free Maze Mail list.

More from The Money Maze

Sources

  1. JSE welcomes ASP Isotopes secondary listing, JSE, 27 Aug 2025.
  2. Q2 2025 earnings release, AngloGold Ashanti, 1 Aug 2025.
  3. Cutting red tape amendments, JSE Limited.
  4. Walmart completes R6.4bn purchase of Massmart, Moneyweb, Nov 2022.

This is not financial advice.

Transcript

Read the full transcript

Auto-generated transcript, may contain errors.

Download as plain text (5 KB)

0:00 Welcome back to the money minister podcast for South African retail investors who want to stop feeling like they're drowning in jargon and start navigating the market like someone who actually knows what they're doing on your host Jay. And today we're tackling a question that pops up a lot. Why do some companies listing to places? Why do others pack their bags and leave the JC entirely and white as London look like the sentence city of stock exchanges for South African firms. So grab your virtual passport cause in this episode we going global.

0:33 Let's dive in. Let's start with dual listing. While the dual listing is when a company lists its shares on more than one Stock Exchange. For example, Anglo American is listed on the JC and the London Stock Exchange. Same company, same business, but you can buy its shares into different places. So why do they do this? Well, it's about access to exchanges mean access to more investors and more liquidity. It's like selling Borovo scrolls at both rugby stadium and the cricket stadium.

1:04 More foot traffic, more sales, same voice, 4 JSE companies. London is like that boogie cousin who lives overseas. Listing their gives access to a bigger pool of global institutional investors, more analyst coverage and sometimes a stronger currency market for raising capital. So why is Jay-Z losing listings? Well, here's the hard truth. The JSC is like a nightclub that used to be packed in 2005 but now it's a ghost town. Was one lonely bouncer scrolling Instagram? In the last 20 years we've gone from over 600 listed companies to about 280 today.

1:41 So the question is why? Ohh, low liquidity. There just aren't enough buyers and sellers. If you want to raise big capital, good luck finding it on the JC alone. Costs while maintaining a listing isn't free. You've got regulatory requirements, reporting standards and a mountain of compliance. And then you've got a valuation gap. Many local companies believe the Jaisi undervalues them compared to global peers.

2:06 It's like selling your Golf GTI in a small dorpie when no one has cash versus Johannesburg where everyone knows what it's worth. So why do companies pack their bags for London? The London Stock Exchange is a popular second home for South African giants. Think Anglo, Sassle, PHP and previously Old Mutual before the big unbundling drama. Reasons they pack for London.

2:30 Access to deeper capital pools. Global investors wrote down pounds like Jobuk uncle's throw around Brandy at a Bry currency strength, rising capital in pounds or USD beat South African when you're funding international operations. And then there's global visibility. If you want to attract big institutional investors. London and New York Stock exchanges are like the center of stock markets. Everyone who's anyone is there.

2:56 Now let's look at delistings. Why companies say cheers to the JC. Well, you've seen the headlines. Companies delisting left right and centre question is why ohh buyouts private equity loves a good buy out companies like Clover said thanks Jazz but we going private low valuation model if there's a share price that's trading lower than the CEO's blood pressure after load shedding delisting starts to look really sexy Edmund fatigue. So as said earlier the compliance burden is heavy. If you're investor base is small and you're constantly doing roadshows with a handful of people, why would you bother ending costs versus benefit?

3:35 If you're listing fees and audit costs or chewing more cash than you're raising, you're better off chilling in the private space. So let's do a bit of an example. No J conversation is complete without Naspers and process Naspers listed process in Amsterdam to unlock value and reduce the jazz waiting issue. Did it work Well, sort of, but it shows how complex 2 listings can get.

4:01 So the risks for retail investors, before you start thinking you're almost chased all these dual listed stocks gone down, take a chill pulp. Just remember you've got foreign exchange risks. Buying a London listed shares, Well now you paying in pounds no longer rands. You've got liquidity differences. Sometimes the Jaish E version trades at a slight discount or premium compared to the London Stock Exchange version.

4:26 Then there is costs. If you trade on a platform such as Easy Equities, check those forex and transaction fees that will make you cry like that time Woolies increased rotisserie chicken prices, so time for your stock fell started back off stock lingo for this episode 21 Your CHEAT SHEET. Dual listing is the same company listed on 2 exchanges for better capital access deal listing is company saying cheers to the exchange. Usually due to low cost, low valuation or buyouts. London migration.

4:58 It's about bigger investors, stronger currency and the global exposure. So while my jokes may be more awkward than Eskom's load shedding schedules used to be, remember this is not financial advice. Please do your own research and speak to a licensed advisor. Until next time, I'll catch you again on the money mice.

You might also like

The JSE stories worth knowing about, explained like a mate would at the braai. No hot tips, no spam.

Maze Mail

Listen to The Money Maze