BRF has selected banks to assist the Brazil-based meat and poultry company with the divestiture of its operational units in Europe, Thailand and Argentina.
The company on July 16 revealed in an announcement to the market on the BRF website that it had formally executed the mandates with Itau BBA and Bradesco BBI to advise it on the assets located in Argentina, while Morgan Stanley will advise the company as it seeks to sell its assets in Europe and Thailand.
Those assets include real-estate and non-operational assets, as well as minority interests in other companies.
The announcement to the market was signed by Lorival Nogueira Luz Jr., BRF’s global chief operating officer, chief financial officer and investor relations officer.
BRF, on June 29, in another notice to the market revealed its intent to divest of the assets in those three markets, citing a desire to focus on its transactions in the Brazilian domestic market, in Asia and in the Muslim market, which includes the Banvit assets in Turkey. BRF further stated that those are the markets in which it occupies a leading position and has strong competitive advantages.
BRF noted that the sale of those assets does not exclude the exportation to those markets.
Organizational restructuring
At the same time BRF announced its plan to divest of certain assets, it also revealed that it was changing its organizational structure. That restructuring includes reducing the number of vice presidents from 14 to 10.
Key reasons given for the restructuring included reducing its debt leverage and improving its share capital structure.
In other recent news, global investment firm BlackRock Inc. purchased roughly a 5 percent stake in BRF, but offered assurance that the purchase of those shares was for investment purposes only, and BlackRock had no intention of changing the company’s control or management structure.
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.
