Rainbow Chicken, a publicly traded South African company

Rainbow Chicken, one of South Africa’s best-known brands, has been listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and shares will trade 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).

A fully vertically integrated poultry producer, the new Rainbow Group operates 165 farms, eight hatcheries, three primary processing plants and two further processing plants. In addition, it owns six feed mills – as well as the Epol and Driehoek feed brands – and holds 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 common shares are being offered, on a one-for-one basis for each RCL Foods share. The shares will be traded from July 1.

A new era for Rainbow Chicken

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

“We aim to restore and rebuild our chicken and feed businesses to be best in class in terms of customer focus, delivering value through innovation and leveraging our legacy,” he said. “This bold move heralds a wave of exciting growth opportunities, both for our company and our people. Our commitment to a smooth transition ensures minimal disruption to our operations. We have solid 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.” »

Joining Stander as executive directors of the new company are Kerry van der Merwe, chief financial officer, and Wouter De Wet, chief operating officer.

Learn more about Rainbow Chicken

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

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

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.