Marfrig Global Foods increases stake in BRF

Marfrig Global Foods has increased its level of ownership in BRF, purchasing more than 61 million additional shares.

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www.gesagro.com.br

Marfrig Global Foods has increased its level of ownership in BRF, purchasing more than 61 million additional shares.

Marfrig and BRF announced an earlier transaction on May 21, in which Marfrig purchased 196,869,573 shares of BRF. In an announcement to the market on the BRF investor relations webpage, dated June 3, it was revealed that Marfrig now owns 257,267,671 shares of BRF stock, which amounts to roughly a 31.66% stake in BRF.

Marfrig’s earlier investment in the fellow Brazil-based protein producer represented about a 24.23% stake in BRF.

In the most recent announcement to the market, it stated that the acquisition of BRF shares aims to diversify Marfrig’s investment in a segment that is complementary to the sector of which it operates, and that no contracts or agreements were executed by Marfrig regulating the exercise of voting rights or the purchase and sale of the company’s securities.

Marfrig’s decision to purchase a stake in BRF came about two years after the two companies had taken part in merger talks. However, it was announced on July 11, 2019, that such a merger was no longer being discussed.

While both Brazilian companies have an international presence and a history of a diversified portfolio in animal proteins, Marfrig had earlier divested of significant assets in the poultry industry. In November 2018, Marfrig sold its Keystone Foods subsidiary, then the tenth largest poultry company in the United States, to Tyson Foods, stating that it was doing so to put more emphasis on its beef operations and to leverage its purchase of the majority stake in the U.S.-based National Beef Packing Co.

Marfrig Global Foods is also the former owner of Northern Ireland-based poultry company Moy Park, which it sold to JBS. Moy Park is presently owned by Pilgrim’s Pride.

BRF, according to WATT Global Media Top Companies surveys, is the world’s third largest poultry producer and seventh largest feed producer.

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