Ex-Springbok’s private security company eyes JSE listing

Fidelity Services, South Africa’s biggest private-security company, hired lenders to advise on an initial public offering on the continent’s largest bourse, CEO Wahl Bartmann said.

Absa, Deutsche Bank, Nedbank and Standard Bank will work on the plan to bring the company to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, he said in an emailed response to queries, adding that the market shouldn’t expect an intention to float this year and that he isn’t in a position to provide details on the business’s valuation now. 

RMB Morgan Stanley — a joint venture with FirstRand’s Rand Merchant Bank unit in South Africa — is also involved, said Bartmann, who played in the Springbok national rugby team in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

Deutsche, Nedbank, RMB Morgan Stanley and Standard declined to comment while Absa and didn’t immediately respond to a request. 

South Africa’s main bourse, owned by JSE, is on track for its best year for funds raised from IPOs since 2017, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. 

South Africa mobile-network operator Cell C is planning an IPO that aims to raise R7.2 billion and will start trading at the end of the month, while artificial intelligence-driven financial-technology firm Optasia Group had the nation’s first IPO so far in 2025 last week. 

Fidelity has more than 69,000 staff members working in housing complexes, casinos and cash-in-transit services, according to its website. 

With carjackings, armed robberies and one of the highest recorded murder rates in the world, violent crime has plagued South Africa for decades. There are now 2.7 million registered private-security personnel — more than five times what there were in 2017. 

People in the industry estimate about 600,000 are active in jobs from guards in stores to those resembling paramilitaries. That compares with the 150,000-strong national police force.

Fidelity has made a number of acquisitions in recent years to add scale, including that of SSG Holdings, and US company Tyco’s South African business, ADT.