JBS SA's proposed purchase of Seara Brasil from rival meat and poultry processor Marfrig has been approved by Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Economica, Brazil's antitrust agency. The transaction was approved without restrictions, and involves 32 production units, including processed foods, poultry and pork processing plants, as well as 21 distribution centers.
JBS is required by law to go through a 15 day waiting period before concluding the transaction. JBS expects to assume ownership of Seara operations, effective September 30.
The Seara acquisition represents an important increase in JBS SA's production capacity of poultry, pork and processed foods at JBS. Including the new facilities, JBS will process 12 million birds, 70,000 hogs, 100,000 hides and 5,000 tons of processed foods per day globally, with a total of 185,000 employees worldwide.
The deal, which includes the purchase of Marfrig leather company Zenda, is valued at R$5.85 billion.