Meat giant JBS gets set to go public
Brazil-based global meat processor, JBS, has filed for an initial public offering of its Brazilian pork, poultry and food-processing operations.
The company, which is the world’s largest meat processor and owner of international brands like Pilgrim’s Pride and Swift, intends to raise about 4 billion reais, or $1.8 billion, all of which would be used to finance the company’s growth. The operations, to be spun off under the name JBS Foods, were responsible for about 10% of the parent company’s more than $40 billion in revenue last year.
Although no date has been set for the offering, it is thought that the company plans for it to take place between July and the end of September, depending on market conditions.
JBS Foods will be listed on the São Paulo stock market’s highest corporate governance tier, the Novo Mercado, which requires a company to list at least 25 percent of its shares. The IPO appears to be part of a larger restructuring after the company acquired the pork and poultry operations of its Brazilian rival Seara for $2.7 billion last year.
“We have conditions to expand our processed food business,” the chief executive of JBS, Wesley Batista, said last week. “We have the balance sheet to do it and we are actively looking for opportunities.”
Source: The New York Times
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