RFG Holdings shares soar 38% following Premier Group acquisition announcement

RFG Holdings’ share price shot up over 38% to R22.20 after a surprise announcement Thursday that South African consumer foods and packaged goods company Premier Group plans to acquire it in a share swap transaction.

Investors appear stoked with the proposed acquisition, as Premier’s share price also increased by 8.3% to R166.40 in the morning, while the share price of one of Premier’s main shareholders, Brait, also increased by more than 8% to R2.11 per share.

The proposed transaction to acquire all of RFG’s shares was structured in a ratio of one Premier share for 7 RFG shares, and was based on a RFG Holdings price per share of R22, and a reference price of R154 per share.

The offer represented a 35.6% premium based on the closing prices of a Premier share and an RFG share on October 14, 2025, of R153.28 and R16.15 respectively.

If implemented, RFG shareholders will hold a 22.5% stake in the combined group, and the listing of RFG shares will be terminated on the JSE.

Premier has brands such as Blue Ribbon, BB Bread, Snowflake, Iwisa, Super Sun, Nyala, Manhattan's and Dove. It operates out of 28 distribution centres and exports 14 brands in its portfolio to 41 countries. RFG is a leading producer of convenience meal solutions, with brands such as Rhodes Quality, Bull Brand and Pakco, with strong market positions across key fresh and long-life categories.

The two companies said in a joint announcement that RFG would represent a complementary addition to the Premier portfolio - while the two share common customers and sales channels, there is no overlap of operations in terms of the products and categories they operate in.

RFG’s “diversified and well-balanced offerings align strategically with Premier's existing product base and broaden Premier's category reach and market presence,” the companies’ directors said.

They said the transaction was an opportunity for RFG’s and Premier's shareholders to participate in the future growth of the combined group, which would have a combined annual revenue of R27.9 billion and taxed profit of R1.7bn, representing significantly increased scale of operations.

There were expected to be synergies and efficiencies between the two companies over the medium term. RFG management would remain in their positions to continue running RFG operations as part of Premier.

For the six months to March 30, 2025, RFG's net value of assets and its taxed profit came to R3.74bn and R230m respectively. At its last financial year to end-September 2024, RFG's reported net asset value and taxed profit after tax were R3.84bn and R565m.

Last month, RFG said revenue increased by 2.4% in the 11 months ended August 2025 after its management focused on reaching profitability targets through active management of sales volumes, gross profit margin and operating costs, despite the constrained spending and weak consumer sentiment, which had been particularly evident in July and August.

RFG shareholders holding 49.5% of the RFG shares in issue had undertaken to vote in favour of the acquisition. 

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