Evaluating shareholder wealth creation in JSE-listed investment holding companies

Background: The value and performance of underlying investments are the primary driver of value created by investment holding companies. In theory, the intrinsic net asset value of these companies should reflect the fair value of their ownership stakes in the underlying investments; however, most investment holding companies trade at a discount to the reported measure of intrinsic value per share.

Aim: The aim of this study is to determine if corporate actions have reduced discounts to intrinsic net asset value among a sample of Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE)-listed holding companies. Setting: The study focused on a sample of JSE-listed investment holding companies.

Method: The study was quantitative in nature, and an event study using multiple estimation models was used to determine the share price reaction to the corporate actions. Results: The results confirm the widening of a discount and indicate that corporate actions demonstrate no significant effect in reducing the discount to net asset value.

Conclusion: The corporate actions in this study were not effective as a method to address discounts for holding companies. The persistent and widening discount reflects market perceptions. Demonstration of management’s ability to allocate capital and provide returns above the cost of capital is suggested as the only way to narrow the discount.

Contribution: This study contributes to the existing JSE event study literature by focusing on investment holding companies and highlighting that the market perception of investment holding companies is reflected in the widening discount to intrinsic net asset value.