Rainbow Chicken, one of South Africa’s biggest poultry producers, has listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange as part of the unbundling of a conglomerate, The JSE says in a press release the total of listed companies is now 282 and the total value of shares listed (“market capitalization”) is over ZAR 18.8 trillion ($1.05 trillion).
Rainbow Chicken Limited started in 1960 as a family business, and currently controls and operates 165 farms, 1,288 houses, 8 hatcheries, 5 processing factories, 6 animal feed mills and a 50% share in a business Matzonox which operates two waste-processing plants. It is also South Africa’s second largest animal feed company. Its brands include Rainbow, Farmer Brown and food services, while animal feeds include Epol and Driehoek Feeds.
RCL Foods Limited, a giant group focused on consumer goods, announced in March it would unbundle Rainbow Chicken so that investors would be able to buy and sell the shares of the poultry business, instead of only investing in the group. Investors received one share in Rainbow Chicken for every one share in RCL Foods, with a total of 890 million ordinary shares.
Rainbow CEO Marthinus Stander said: “Stepping out as a standalone entity marks a significant milestone for Rainbow. We aim to re-establish and rebuild our chicken and feed businesses as best-in-class in terms of customer-centricity, delivering value via innovation and leveraging our heritage. This bold move heralds a wave of exciting opportunities for growth”.
Valdene Reddy, Director of Capital Markets at the JSE, said: “(We are) pleased that the company selected the JSE as a preferred venue to unlock value”.
The shares started trading from 1 July under ticker RBO.
RMB acted as sole financial advisor to RCL Foods and Rainbow and led syndicated finance of R5bn ($278m) to RCL and a R500m ($28m) general banking credit facility for Rainbow. RMB has also supported the strategic portfolio review of RCL Foods in 2020 and advised on divestment of its distribution business Vector Logistics in 2023.
Photo: Valdene Reddy (JSE) and Marthinus Stander (Rainbow Chicken) celebrate listing on the JSE (photo credit: JSE)
