Marfrig Global Foods, which owns a 33.25% stake in BRF, stated that it intends to present a list of nominees to serve on the BRF board of directors.
In a secruties filing that can be seen on the Marfrig Global Foods investor relations webpage, Marfrig stated that its own board decided it “must exercise its shareholder rights in order to influence the management of BRF” and as such, it will “present to BRF a plate of candidates to be nominated for the board of directors at the next annual general meeting of BRF.”
That filing was dated February 21, and the BRF annual meeting is scheduled for March 28.
Meanwhile, BRF had another securities filing on its investor relations webpage. That filing acknowledged that Marfrig was nominating potential board members, and identified those people as Marcos Antonio Molina dos Santos, Sergio Agapito Rial, Marcia Aparecida Pascoal Marçal dos Santos, Augusto Marques da Cruz Filho, Deborah Stern Vieitas, Flávia Maria Bittencourt, Oscar de Paula Bernardes Neto, Pedro de Camargo Neto, Altamir Batista Mateus da Silva and Eduardo Augusto Rocha Pocetti.
Marfrig and BRF confirmed that the two Brazil-based animal protein producers were considering a merger in May 2019. However, two months later, it was announced that those merger talks had ended.
It was announced on May 21 that Marfrig had purchased 196,869,573 shares of BRF, which amounts to a 24.23% stake in the company. Then, on June 3, Marfrig announced that it had increased its level of ownership of BRF, purchasing more than 61 million addition shares, giving it about a 31.66% stake in the company. Marfrig’s investment in BRF has since grown to a 33.25% stake.
Marfrig Global Foods is the former parent company of poultry companies Moy Park, now owned by Pilgrim’s Pride, and Keystone Foods, now owned by Tyson Foods. When it divested of Keystone, it stated it was doing so to place more emphasis on its beef operations. An investment in BRF enabled Marfrig to maintain some presence in the poultry industry.
