The giant Brazilian meatpacker JBS, a relative newcomer to North America, will buy the pork operations of agribusiness rival Cargill for $1.45 billion, the companies announced. The deal is subject to antitrust review. In the transaction, JBS USA would acquire Cargill processing plants in Ottumwa, Iowa, and Beardstown, Illinois; five feed mills in Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa and Texas; and four hog farms, two in Arkansas, one in Oklahoma and one in Texas. JBS said the purchase “will strengthen our position as a producer and supplier of all major proteins around the world.”
JBS entered the U.S. market in 2007 with the purchase of Swift and Co. It has three pork plants, in Iowa, Minnesota and Kentucky, with a daily capacity of 50,000 hogs. It is the second-largest meat processor in the nation and Cargill is No. 3, said Food Business News.
In a recent story, Harvest Public Media said JBS is the second-largest food company in the world and was “the largest global producer of beef, chicken and lamb, and number three in pork.” JBS owns poultry processor Pilgrim’s Pride and unsuccessfully tried to buy Hillshire Brands last year.