Tyson Foods CEO Tom Hayes did not directly answer a reporter’s question concerning Tyson’s potential acquisition of Keystone Foods, but did imply that purchasing the tenth largest poultry company in the United States is consistent with the company’s growth strategy.
While participating in a conference call with reporters on August 6, one journalist said it had been revealed that Tyson has been in talks with Marfrig Global Foods, Keystone’s current owner, about acquiring the business unit. She asked Hayes about the status of those alleged talks.
Hayes said the company does not divulge information concerning negotiations related to mergers and acquisitions, but did offer a response that hinted it is a strong possibility.
“What you should take away is we are always going to focus on those things that will bring value to our shareholders. What we talk about consistently is that buying new brands, certainly buying capabilities the company doesn’t possess today, that we can take advantage of growth areas, and then also, getting into new geographies, whether its in the U.S. or abroad,” Hayes responded.
“When you think about the areas that we are to be focused on, that should give you the insight in terms of what our strategy will be for acquisitions.”
The Brazil-based Marfrig Global Foods announced in April its intent to divest of the U.S. based Keystone Foods, which also has operations in the Asia Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa. The divestiture was viewed as a way to leverage Marfrig’s acquisition of a majority stake in National Beef Packing Company and enable Marfrig to better focus on its beef operations.
In an earlier notice to the market, Marfrig stated that five companies had qualified to submit proposals. While neither Marfrig, nor the qualifying companies, ever confirmed the identities of any of those companies, an anonymous source claiming knowledge of the matter told Reuters that those five qualifying companies were Tyson Foods, George’s, Cargill – all based in the United States -- and Chinese companies Cofco Corp. and China Investment Corp.
The conference call in which Hayes addressed the question about Marfrig coincided with the release of the financial results of the third quarter of Tyson’s 2018 fiscal year.
