Marfrig Global Foods has acquired 91.89 percent of the capital stock of Quickfood in Argentina from BRF for a price of US$54.9 million.
“With this acquisition, we are reinforcing one of our strategic pillars: focus on growth in value-added products and brands,” said Eduardo Miron, global CEO of the Brazil-based Marfrig. “And we are doing this by acquiring a company renowned for operational excellence. We believe that this operation will create value for our stakeholders."
Quickfood has three plants in Argentina, in the cities of San Jorge, Baradero and Arroyo Seco. Together, these units have a daily processing capacity of 620 head of cattle and, in a month, process more than 6,000 tons of products such as beef patties, wieners, cold cuts and frozen vegetables. Among the company’s brands are Paty, synonymous with beef patties in Argentina, Good Mark and Barfy, other beef patties brands, Vienissima!, the leading brand of wieners, and Green Life, the frozen vegetables brand.
In 2017, Quickfood’s net sales amounted to US$352 million. The company has been listed on the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange (PATY) since 2002.
The acquisition was announced about one week after Marfrig closed on the sale of its Keystone Foods subsidiary to Tyson Foods. Marfrig decided to divest of Keystone Foods to be able to better concentrate on its growth in the beef industry. Quickfood is the second beef company Marfrig has acquired since it revealed its intent to sell Keystone Foods. In June, it acquired National Beef Packing Company.
BRF, in an effort to improve its financial position, stated in June it had planned to sell its operational units in Argentina. At the same time, it announced it intended to divest of assets in Europe and Thailand, so it could concentrate on its most profitable markets in Brazil, Asia and in regions with a high Muslim population.
Marfrig-BRF partnership
At the same time Marfrig announced the Quickfood transaction, it also announced a partnership with BRF, worth BRL100 million (US$26 million), by which it will take over the production of beef patties, meatballs and kibbeh at the plant in Varzea Grande, Mato Grosso, Brazil – and the transfer of equipment and infrastructure. The unit has annual production capacity of 69,000 tons of beef patties.
The partnership guarantees Marfrig an agreement for supplying these products to BRF for five years. Apart from the partnership with BRF, the agreement allows Marfrig to once again supply products, such as beef patties, to global foodservice companies in Brazil and to adjust the estimated investment to a new beef patties plant in the country.
Both operations, Quickfood and Varzea Grande, will be managed by Miguel Gularte, CEO of Marfrig’s South-American operation, and will be financed with part of the company’s cash. “We have a non-negotiable commitment to financial health,” said Miron. “With the acquisition of these companies, we saw an opportunity to grow, maintaining and focusing on a simple structure, without losing sight of this commitment."
