The world’s largest meat processor, JBS, says it will sell its Five Rivers Cattle Feeding operation as part of a global divestiture plan intended to generate $1.8 billion. Five Rivers operates feedlots in six western states with a combined capacity of 980,000 head and manages a 75,000-head feedlot in Alberta.
“The sale of feed yard assets will more closely align the JBS business model with key U.S. competitors and allow the company to concentrate its efforts on its core food and value-added products businesses,” said a JBS announcement. The company is also selling Moy Pork, based in Northern Ireland, as well as its 19.2 percent share of Vigor Alimentos, a dairy company in Brazil, said Reuters.
JBS revamped its leadership in late May following a meat-inspection scandal in Brazil, and the holding company that controls JBS faces a huge leniency fine. A decade ago, JBS entered the U.S. market with the purchase of Swift & Co., followed by the acquisition of a controlling interest in Pilgrim’s Pride. In 2015, JBS bought Cargill’s pork processing business.