SYDNEY, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Aussie grocery giant Coles has split from conglomerate Wesfarmers and relisted on the local share market (ASX) as an independent company on Wednesday.
The move follows approval for the billion dollar demerger by shareholders last week.
Coles, and larger rival chain Woolworths, account for roughly 60 percent of the Australian market - with the smaller operator running 807 stores and employing around 115,000 people.
Reintroducing at a value of 11.99 billion U.S. dollars, Coles is now the 30th largest company on the local index.
Meanwhile shares in Wesfarmers slumped by around 30 percent as was predicted by experts.
"It's taking out a fair chunk of Wesfarmers' earnings and also their market cap, so the fall correlates to the fact Coles has come out of its business," Commsec market analyst James Tao said.
Wesfarmers bought Coles in 2007 for 13.7 billion U.S. dollars and say that shedding the slow-growth grocery chain is in line with their strategy of freeing up capital for buybacks, dividends and other acquisitions.
Coles Chairman James Graham said the company is pleased to be joining the ASX under their own name.
"I speak for the entire board when I say it is an immense privilege to be with Coles for such a milestone, and we thank our 480,000-plus new shareholders for joining us on this journey," Graham said.
