Kenchic completes takeover of Uganda’s Yo Kuku after COMESA clears merger

January 9, 2026 in Companies, Investment, Trade & Industry by Editor

Kenchic has completed the takeover and rebranding of Uganda’s Yo Kuku after COMESA cleared the complex regional merger, reshaping competition in East Africa’s fast-growing poultry sector.

Kenya’s poultry giant Kenchic has formally taken over Uganda’s Yo Kuku, completing a regional merger that signals rising consolidation in East Africa’s fast-growing poultry industry. The rebranding of Yo Kuku outlets across Uganda began late last year following regulatory approval by the COMESA Competition Commission (CCC), which authorised the deal after an extensive 11-month review.

Mauritius-based Africa Poultry Development Limited (APDL), Kenchic’s parent company, is now the full owner of the Ugandan operation — previously HMH-KUKU Limited. The transaction brings Yo Kuku into APDL’s expanding regional portfolio, which includes subsidiaries in Kenya, Zambia and Uganda, and strengthens Kenchic’s position as one of the largest integrated poultry producers in the COMESA region.

Regulators Clear a Complex, High-Stakes Merger

The CCC’s decision marked the conclusion of a detailed merger examination that stretched far beyond the Commission’s statutory 120-day timeline. Citing potential competition concerns, the Committee Responsible for Initial Determinations (CID) extended the assessment period by a further 240 days to engage member states, study market overlaps and analyse risks in feed, day-old chicks and processed broiler supply chains.

The Commission issued a formal Statement of Concerns to the parties in February 2025, identifying overlaps in key markets where both APDL and Yo Kuku are active, including broiler feed production and processed chicken supply. The acquirer also produces broiler and layer day-old chicks (DOCs), a critical input for poultry operations across the region.

Ultimately, the CID found that although the two entities shared horizontal and vertical linkages — including APDL’s supply of DOCs (Day-Old-Chicks) to the Ugandan target company — the merger would not substantially lessen competition or harm public interest in the Common Market.

The CCC anchored its findings in broader economic dynamics shaping Africa’s poultry sector. Rapid urbanisation, rising protein demand and strong backward linkages to maize and soya production have made poultry one of the most critical agro-processing industries in COMESA.

Consumption has expanded steadily across the region, with countries in southern Africa seeing per-capita poultry intake rise from 23kg in 2003 to nearly 40kg by 2015. The CID noted that this rapid growth has spurred significant investment in feed mills, hatcheries and processing facilities — making cross-border transactions like the Kenchic–Yo Kuku merger increasingly common.

Regulators dissected the transaction across several distinct markets:

• Broiler feed supply
• Broiler day-old chicks
• Layer day-old chicks
• Coloured day-old chicks
• Broiler processed meat
• Breeder production for DOCs 

The CID concluded that farmers cannot easily substitute between feed types or chicken categories, validating a narrow product-market definition. However, it also found that while APDL and Yo Kuku both operate in some of these segments, competition remains sufficiently robust in Uganda and the wider region.

The review also examined APDL’s minority shareholding links to Aviagen East Africa — a breeder operation supplying Ross 308 parent stock — and Seaboard Corporation’s non-controlling interests in feed producers across COMESA. These relationships, the Commission found, did not amount to preferential pricing or coordinated market control.

With regulatory hurdles cleared, APDL has moved quickly to integrate Yo Kuku into its regional network. The rebranding of outlets, production lines and distribution channels is now complete, marking a major consolidation move in the Ugandan poultry market.

Industry analysts say the merger could improve supply chain efficiency, expand access to improved genetics and feed, and enhance product consistency — though its long-term implications for smaller producers will be closely watched.

The acquisition strengthens APDL’s presence across COMESA, aligning operations in Kenya, Zambia and Uganda around a single brand identity and production model. With strong demand fundamentals and increasing formalisation of the poultry value chain, the company is positioning itself as a central player in one of Africa’s most dynamic food sectors.

Although the value of the deal has not been disclosed, for Uganda, the merger marks one of the largest recent transactions in agro-processing and underscores the strategic importance of poultry in household protein consumption, farmer livelihoods and rural supply chains.