{"id":841986,"date":"2025-11-05T10:01:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T08:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=841986"},"modified":"2025-11-05T10:41:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T08:41:17","slug":"cell-c-is-heading-to-the-jse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/telecommunications\/841986\/cell-c-is-heading-to-the-jse\/","title":{"rendered":"Cell C is heading to the JSE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cell C is preparing for an IPO, with the telco company set to list all of its issued ordinary shares on the Main Board of the JSE. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cell C is offering existing shares owned by Blu Label\u2019s The Prepaid Company (TPC) by way of private placement to qualified investors, subject to market conditions and JSE approval. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe decision to pursue a listing on the JSE marks a significant and exciting step in Cell C’s growth story,\u201d said Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe separate listing of the company will enable the group to streamline its balance sheet, reinforce its growth strategy and strengthen its competitive positioning of business segments.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe listing is expected to be an enabler of our strategy, as it will elevate the Cell C brand, enhance access to capital to sustain growth, instil public transparency and market discipline, and enhance the group’s profile with all stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of the listing, an offer will be made by TPC for the sale of shares held by TPC to selected prospective investors, intended to raise about R7.7 billion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes a roughly R500 million overallotment option and also includes an allocation of shares of up to approximately R2.4 billion to an empowerment vehicle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

TPC will then use the proceeds it receives to strategically enhance its financial position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proceeds raised will be allocated towards settling certain interest-bearing borrowings and other debt obligations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A portion of the funds will then be earmarked for dividends to Blu Label\u2019s shareholders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finances and details <\/h2>\n\n\n
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The Cell C Group has taken a capex-light approach to its mobile network, which uses its own spectrum assets in combination with physical network infrastructure owned by other mobile network operators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This approach has freed up capital for other projects. The network also handles MVNO’s services for several other companies, including the fast-growing Capitec Connect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cell C had roughly 7.6 million mobile subscribers. Prepaid customers represented roughly 90% of the company’s total subscriber base. Postpaid customers make up a minority of the total subscriber base. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a standalone basis, Cell C had R11.1 billion in revenue during the year ended 31 May 2025, an increase from the R10.8 billion in the twelve months ended 31 May 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cell C had EBITDA of ZAR2.1 billion (ZAR2.0 billion); and EBIT of ZAR1.6 billion(ZAR1.4 billion), for the same year-long periods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of the deal, Cell C is also undergoing a restructuring. As is customary for everything Cell C and Blu Label related, the restructuring is complex: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Step 1 – Debt-to-equity conversion: TPC\u2019s outstanding debt claims against Cell C will be capitalised and converted into equity, further reducing Cell C\u2019s leverage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Step 2 – Acquisition of CEC: Cell C will acquire 100% of CEC (a wholly owned subsidiary of BLU) from TPC in exchange for additional Cell C shares. CEC is a subsidiary responsible for Cell C\u2019s postpaid offerings. The internalisation will enable Cell C to assume full responsibility over its postpaid customer base, including oversight of supply chain, commercial operations, marketing, billing, credit, and collections.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Step 3 – Airtime asset transfer: TPC will transfer Cell C airtime currently held by TPC on its balance sheet to Cell C on loan account, which shall be settled in exchange for newly issued additional Cell C shares.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Steps 4 and 5 – SPV restructure: The Special Purpose Vehicles (\u201cSPVs\u201d) currently holding equity interests in Cell C will also be unwound as part of the Restructuring.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Step 6 – Flip-up: The holders of Cell C shares (including TPC) will exchange their Cell C shares for Shares in the Company in preparation for the Listing of the Company. All Cell C shareholders, including TPC, will hold the same proportion of the Shares as the proportion of Cell C shares held by those Cell C shareholders immediately prior to the Flip-up.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Cell C said that it has successfully executed a high-impact turnaround strategy that has stabilised and streamlined the business and has positioned it for future growth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Since the implementation of its turnaround strategy, Cell C has experienced improvements in its revenue diversification and cost containment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Cell C will be listed on the JSE, with The Prepaid Company selling its shares to qualified investors via a private placement. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":836475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[42,175],"class_list":["post-841986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-telecommunications","tag-cell-c","tag-jse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841986"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":842014,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841986\/revisions\/842014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/836475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}