Global investment firm BlackRock Inc. has purchased roughly a 5 percent stake in Brazil-based meat and poultry company BRF.
In an announcement to the market posted on the BRF website, it was revealed that BlackRock had acquired 37,309,516 common shares and 3,413,575 American Depository Receipts, representative of common shares, for a total of 40,723,091 common shares, which represents .a 5.01 percent share of the total common shares issued by the company, and 1,215,720 derivatives financial instruments of the underlying asset with financial settlement, correspondent to approximately 0.15 percent of the total common shares issued by the company.
BlackRock has further stated that the purchase of shares was merely for investment purposes and that it has no intention of changing the company’s control or its management structure.
According to the BlackRock website, its mission is to help investors build better financial futures and it provides investment and technology solutions clients need when planning for their most important goals.
BlackRock’s purchase of BRF shares follows BRF’s recent approval of a financial and operational restructuring plan that includes the reduction of the number of company vice presidents from 14 to 10. At the same time, BRF announced its intent to divest of operational units in Europe, Thailand and Argentina.
BRF has recently undergone numerous personnel changes at the executive and board level. In June, the BRF board appointed Pedro Pullen Parente as the global CEO of BRF, formerly known as Brasil Foods. Parente had also been appointed as chairman of the BRF board. Around the same time, the company appointed Lorival Nogueira Luz Jr. to become the global chief operating officer (COO), which was a newly created position. Before his global COO appointment, he was the company’s chief financial and investor relations officer.
BRF, according the the WATTAgNet Top Companies Database, is the world’s third-largest broiler company. It is also a major producer of pork, turkeys and feed.
