Brazil's JBS SA, the world's largest beef producer, agreed to buy assets from Marfrig Alimentos SA in Brazil and Uruguay, which will make it the world's largest chicken producer. JBS will take on 5.85 billion Reais (2.74bn dollars) in debt for the Seara poultry and pork unit in Brazil and the Zenda tannery unit in Uruguay, the Sao Paulo-based company said in a regulatory filing on June 11.
For Marfrig, the most indebted meatpacker in the Western Hemisphere, the deal means a cut in net debt that jumped sevenfold in the past five years to about 10 billion Reais as of March 31. The acquisition of Seara's local assets would turn JBS into the world's largest poultry producer, surpassing Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods Inc.
Source: Mercopress
