JBS intends to divest of its stake in European poultry company Moy Park, the company announced in a material fact posted on its website.
The material fact, signed by JBS Investor Relations Officer Jeremiah O’Callaghan, also reveals that Brazil-based JBS seeks to sell its JBS Five Rivers Cattle Feeding assets and farms, as well as its shareholder interest in Brazilian dairy and food company Vigor Alimentos.
JBS directors estimate that divesting of the three entities will raise a total of about BRL6 billion (US$1.82 billion), in addition to the BRL1 billion (US$300 million) already announced with the pending sale of beef assets in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay to Minerva.
JBS acquired its stake in Moy Park from rival Brazilian animal protein company Marfrig in 2015.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after JBS announced the sale of assets to Minerva. Following that announcement, the company stated that “no core assets at JBS USA, or any other part of the world, are candidates for sale."
Moy Park, according to the WATTAgNet Top Poultry Companies Database, is Northern Ireland’s largest company, and also among the top 5 European poultry enterprises. About 800 farmers contribute to Moy Park’s integrated supply chain, which includes hatcheries, feed mills, production and processing facilities and grandparent stock.
Since JBS acquired its majority stake in Moy Park, the company has expanded its poultry plant in Ashbourne, U.K., enabling it to reach the milestone of processing 1 million chickens per week. Moy Park was also named Employer of the Year by Grantham College in 2016.
According to the material fact, the sale of the Moy Park, Vigor and Five Rivers assets will be subject to the JBS board’s approval.
