The Bidvest Group Limited (also known as the Bidvest Group or simply Bidvest) is a South African service, trading, and distribution firm. The company organizes itself into seven domestic segments: automotive, commercial, electrical, financial services, freight, office and print, and services.
Globally, the company operates Bidvest Foodservice, and the majority of this revenue comes from the United Kingdom, followed by, in order, Australasia, Europe, and emerging markets.
About Bidvest
The Bidvest Limited is an international investment holding company that is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in the Industrial – Support Service sector, with subsidiaries listed on the London, Australian, and Luxembourg stock exchanges. Brian Joffe founded the Group in 1988, and in 1990, it was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
The company’s six divisions are Services, Branded Products, Freight, Commercial Products, Financial Services, Automotive, and Properties. Bidvest Services is an integrated facilities management company that offers outsourced solutions from a single source.
Bidvest Freight provides freight management services to the private sector. Bidvest Branded Products distributes consumer products, pharmaceutical products, and a comprehensive suite of office products, office automation, and office furniture services, in addition to meeting all print, packaging, labelling, and communication requirements.
Bidvest Financial Services is a diversified financial services group with a banking license, a life insurance license, and a number of other financial services businesses. Bidvest Properties owns, manages, and develops property, as well as provides professional property services and consulting on all property-related issues.
Bidvest has a primary listing on Johannesburg Stock Exchange as (JSE: BVT).
Bidvest Investments
Bidvest is a leading provider of business-to-business services, trading, and distribution, with six divisions:
Services, Freight, Branded Products, Commercial Products, Financial Services, and Automotive, are all examples of industries. Bidvest occupies the majority of the Group’s significant and strategic property portfolio. Bidvest owns 53.6 percent of Adcock Ingram (Adcock).
Bidvest completed its largest transaction to date in May 2020 when it acquired PHS, a leading hygiene service provider in the UK, Ireland, and Spain. On an annualized basis, this trebles the Group’s offshore exposure.
Bidvest generates 65 percent of the trading profit from services and 35 percent from trading and distribution activities.
Here are some of the Bidvest’s major investments:
1. Bidvest Noonan
Bidvest Noonan, a subsidiary of The Bidvest Group, is a leading provider of outsourced services in the UK and Ireland, including security, cleaning, technical, and ancillary services.
In recent years, the company has grown its services and footprint in the UK and Ireland through a combination of organic and acquisition-led growth, establishing a significant security and facilities management business.
2. Axis Group
Axis Group, also known as Axis Consulting, wants your life to revolve around IT services.
Customers can use the company’s technical consulting services to help them implement business intelligence and information management software.
In February 2021, Bidvest Noonan acquired the Axis Group.
3. Eqstra Holdings
Distribution, long-term lease, and rental of mobile capital investments, as well as provision of essential value-added annuity services to clients in the infrastructure, mining, industrial, and commercial sectors in South Africa, the rest of Africa, the United Kingdom, and Ireland is Eqstra’s core business. After being spun off from Imperial Holdings, Eqstra Holdings debuted on the main board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in May 2008.
Eqstra Holdings was purchased by Bidvest Group for $2 billion.
4. Brandcorp
Distributor of industrial and consumer products, the company provides hand tools, general hardware, welding equipment, power tools, lifting, rigging, pulling, and lashing equipment, luggage, travel accessories, motor vehicle accessories, camping, and outdoor equipment, dinnerware, homeware, and tabletop products.
5. Plumblink
Plumlink plumbing supplies ltd is located in Havant, United Kingdom, and is part of the electrical, plumbing & hardware wholesalers industry. Plumblink is a specialist plumbing, bathroom, and kitchenware merchant currently operating from 55 branches strategically situated throughout South Africa.
Bidvest business strategy
The Group’s strategy is to invest in companies that provide services, distribution, and trading, which could include light manufacturing, and to use the capacity of its South African growth engine to develop local operations and drive international expansion.
The Group is divided into three umbrella divisions: Services, Foodservice Products, and Commercial Products, with operations in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and continental Europe. Bidvest, despite its size, is a highly entrepreneurial, decentralized, and incentivized Group with a culture of transparency, accountability, integrity, excellence, and innovation.
The Group’s goal is to increase shareholder wealth by achieving real growth in earnings and distributions per share through organic growth, selective acquisitions, and control over funds used.
For the purposes of the Morgan Stanley International Emerging Market Index, Bidvest is considered to have a 100 percent free float. Bidvest also has the highest liquidity rating on the JSE.
Bidvest is one of only three South African companies included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, chosen for their strategy, innovation, financial performance, and stakeholder relations.
Bidvest IPO
Bidvest listed its IPO on JSE in 1990. The majority of its IPO holders are Government Employees Pension Fund, Public Investment Corporation, GIC Asset Management, BB Investment Company.
Bidvest stock analysis
Bidvest Ltd (BVT) currently has a share price of ZAR 185.55. The BVT stock closed its last trading day on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange at 185.55 ZAR per share, representing a 1.02 percent increase over its previous closing price of 183.68 ZAR. BVT started the year with a share price of 157.02 ZAR and has since gained 18.17 percent on that price.
BVT shareholders will be encouraged to know that the stock has gained 8.22 percent in the last four weeks alone.
The current trend is strongly bullish, which investors can capitalize on. However, trading and distribution services are still in pandemic mode in South Africa, so investors should be wary of this.
Bottom line
The retailing and distribution sector has huge growth potential in South Africa, and Bidvest is the conglomerate in the sector. Bidvest provides an attractive investment opportunity, which also drives inclusive growth in the South African economy.
Though Bidvest provides good overall investment opportunities, investors need to study the overall market before investing in Bidvest.