The Choppies Group of Companies has said it has lodged an application with Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) so that the chain store could list with the local bourse.
Addressing the media, Ram Ottapath, Chief Executive Officer of the retailer which traces its roots in Lobatse, said the idea is to use the money from the listing to grow the company fourth.
Ottapath said he also hoped that a listing in the local exchange will further enhance the profile of the company.
The Group’s consultant in the listing process, Martin Makgatle of Motswedi Securities said the listing Committee of the BSE is currently seized with analysing the Choppies application.
Makgatle said as per the BSE rules, the company will have to list at least 20 percent of the shares.
He said it is against the BSE rules to talk about what is happening behind the scenes, saying information will ultimately be contained in the prospectus so that all prospective investors can see it all at the same time.
Ottapath added that Choppies is not worried by the widely publicised arrival of the global giant, Wal-Mart.
Currently Choppies controls 35 percent of Botswana’s FMGC market.
“We are not worried by Wal-Mart. In fact we already are competing with them because they own some shops here,” said Ottapath.
He said there is still room for more Choppies stores in Botswana.
“We are from saturation. We do not believe in that word. When you come to think of it we only control just over 30 percent of the market. So we still have a long way to go,” he said.
In that respect he said Choppies hopes to open 12 more shops in Botswana in the future.
He said the business model will remain the same where they concentrate on serving the lower and middle income branches.
“We have no interest in the high end market. On average the basket value of a Choppies customer remains at P62,” said Ottapath.
