Rainbow Chicken, a publicly traded South African company

One of South Africa’s best-known brands, Rainbow Chicken, has been listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and its shares will start trading from 1 July.

The JSE listing represents a major milestone for Rainbow Chicken as it becomes a standalone company, separate from the former parent company, RCL Foods.

After careful consideration, the board of directors of South African consumer goods giant RCL Foods Ltd has announced its decision to split its vertically integrated poultry division earlier this year.

Since its establishment as a family business in 1960, Rainbow Chicken has grown to become one of the largest poultry companies in South Africa, according to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

Fully vertically integrated poultry producers, the new Rainbow Group operates 165 farms, eight hatcheries, three primary processing plants and two further processing plants. In addition, it owns six animal feed factories (and the animal feed brands Epol and Driehoek) and has a 50% stake in a joint venture that operates two waste recovery facilities under the name “Matzonox”.

To unbundle the poultry sector, more than 890 million ordinary shares are being offered, on a one-for-one basis for each RCL Foods share. The shares will be traded from July 1.

New era for Rainbow Chicken

For Rainbow CEO Marthinus Stander, becoming a standalone entity is an important step for the new company, according to JSE.

“We are focused on restoring and rebuilding our poultry and feed businesses to be best-in-class in terms of customer focus, delivering value through innovation and leveraging our heritage,” he said. “This bold move heralds a wave of exciting growth opportunities for our company and our employees. Our commitment to a smooth transition ensures minimal disruption to our operations. We have robust plans to maintain stability and efficiency, continuing our tradition of excellence.”

“We look forward to innovative developments in our product offerings, enhanced community initiatives and a stronger brand presence.” »

Kerry van der Merwe, CFO, and Wouter De Wet, COO, join Stander as executive directors of the new company.

Learn more about rainbow chicken

As a subsidiary of RCL Foods, the integrated poultry division Rainbow Chicken slaughtered 197 million birds per year. This production makes it the second largest poultry company not only in South Africa but also on the African continent, according to WATTPoultry.com’s Top Poultry Companies survey.

During the six months ended 31 December 2023, RCL Foods’ Rainbow business made an operating profit of R112.2 million (ZAR; US$6.15 million) on revenue of just under ZAR7.25 billion. In very difficult market conditions, the business achieved an operating profit in only one of the previous three financial years, despite revenue growth.

However, thanks to revised strategies adopted over the past three years, the new Rainbow Group reports that management has managed to improve the operational resilience of the entire business.

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