Coles and Wesfarmers separated yesterday without too much fuss on a day when the volatility could have done anything to the shares with Coles shares returning to the ASX at $12.41 after an 11-year absence.
The supermarket group formally divorced Wesfarmers last week via a scheme of arrangement and yesterday was the first day of trading in Coles shares on a when delivered basis. Full trading starts next week.
Shares in Wesfarmers adjusted for the loss of the company’s biggest earner by surrendering 27.7% of their value to $31.30 at the close.
Coles, which last traded in its own right on the ASX in 2007 before the takeover of Coles Group by Wesfarmers, rejoined the market more than an hour after the market’s opening at 10 am Sydney time. Coles shares closed steady at $12.75.
The close gave it a value of around $16.65 billion. The return is in line with analysts’ valuation of the standalone Coles at between $11 and $14.20 a share. The shares will fall in coming days as shareholders who don’t want them sell.
“We are pleased to be joining the ASX under our own name,” Coles Chairman (and longtime Wesfarmers director,) James Graham said in a statement.
“Listing Coles on the ASX as a standalone business marks the next phase in the evolution of a company that began as a single store in Collingwood 104 years ago.
Coles CEO Steven Cain said the past 11 years with Wesfarmers had seen Coles transform into a world-class supermarket retailer.
“Our 115,000 team members can take enormous pride that their company is now listed alongside some of the largest and most recognised businesses in Australia,” he said.
“We’re all very excited for the next chapter in the Coles story as we deliver on our strategy to make life easier for our customers.”
Coles shares will be transferred to eligible shareholders on 28 November and the shares will trade on a normal settlement basis from 29 November.
