JBS offloads beef assets to Minerva Foods
Brazilian meatpacker JBS has reportedly completed a $300 million sale of beef assets in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to rival Minerva Foods, after the regulator’s approval of the acquisition earlier in July.
Pul Argentina SA, Frigomerc SA and Pulsa SA, all owned by Minerva Foods, have acquired the bulk of JBS’s operations in the three countries, in a deal that was completed through two of the latter’s subsidiaries.
The sale forms part of JBS’s plan to downsize operations, following a divestment programme aimed at raising about R$6 billion (£1.4 billion) to help it cut debt and shrink leverage.
Brazil’s antitrust watchdog Cade approved of Minerva SA’s purchase of JBS SA’s South American assets without restrictions earlier in July, but the transaction was later put on hold, after a Brazilian Supreme Court justice upheld a lower court decision to stop the transaction.
The divestment programme has also put North Irish poultry processor Moy Park up for sale.
In June, J&F Investimentos, JBS’s controlling shareholder, was fined R$10.3 billion (£2.4 billion) for its involvement in Brazil’s meat corruption scandal that broke out earlier in the year.
Minerva Foods had also told media that it was cooperating with police in Brazil in their investigation into government corruption, but did not confirm whether it was the subject of the probe.
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