South African pharmaceutical chain Dis-Chem said it would raise $359 million by listing on the Johannesburg stock market. The move aims to slash the firm’s debt and allow its founders to compensate some of their investments.

To this end, it plans to sell 27.5% of its capital, which is 238.4 million shares at unit price of R16.25-R20.55, valuing the company at $1.44 billion.

Dis-Chem plans to start selling its shares on November 18, 2016. Ivan Saltman, co-founder and chief executive of the company said the listing will help the firm rapidly achieve its growth targets and make it the number one retailer of pharmaceutical products in South Africa.

Listing will be led by U.S. lender Goldman Sachs and South African banks Investec and Standard Bank. Bank of America Merrill Lynch will also take part in the process.

By the next five to eight years, the company plans to double its number of branches, establishing new retail points and take many independent pharmacies under its umbrella.

Let’s recall that the Saltzman Family Trust owns 66.9% of the company while its management and financial investors respectively own 23.4 and 9.7 per cent.