OAKWOOD, Ga. – Wayne Farms Inc., a unit of Continental Grain Co., filed an initial public offering of common stock. The company plans to raise $100 million, but the final size of the IPO could be different.

The company will have two classes of authorized common stock, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Both the Class A and Class B stock will have one vote per share. Continental Grain and its subsidiaries will hold all the issued and outstanding Class B common stock and will control more than a majority of the combined voting power of Wayne Farms' common stock, according to the filing. Continental Grain is one of the largest privately held corporations in the US.


“As a result, Continental Grain will be able to control any action requiring the general approval of our stockholders, including the election of our board of directors, the adoption of amendments to our certificate of incorporation and by-laws and the approval of any merger or sale of substantially all of our assets,” the filing said.

The company’s ticker symbol will be “WNFM”, according to documents.

Wayne Farms is the sixth-largest integrated producer and processor of broiler chicken products in the United States. The company operates nine integrated complexes that include nine hatcheries; nine feed mills; nine slaughter processing plants; and two further processing plants. Wayne Farms' operations are located across six states through the southeastern US.