Shares in US meat giant Smithfield Foods jumped almost 9% today (29 June) after reports in Brazil said local meat processor JBS could hold discussions to buy the business.
Smithfield’s stock was up 8.9% in early trading after Brazilian business daily Valor Economico said JBS was looking for acquisitions – and cited Smithfield as a possible target.
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Officials from Smithfield and JBS could not be reached for immediate comment.
Smithfield’s shares were up almost 3.5% at US$15.40 at 13:26 ET.
Shares in JBS were down 4.9% at BRL7.61 on the Sao Paulo stock exchange at 14:17 local time this afternoon.
In the last 18 months, JBS has made a flurry of acquisitions in 2009 amid a wave of consolidation in the global meat sector.
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By GlobalDataLast year, JBS acquired ailing US poultry giant Pilgrim’s Pride and came together with another Brazilian firm Bertin to create a JBS-led meat titan.
JBS has also found time to buy two Australian firms – lamb business Tatiara and beef group Rockdale Beef.
Rival Brazilian meat processor Marfrig has also been acquisitive. Earlier this month, Marfrig agreed to buy the largest privately-held meat products company in the US, Keystone Foods, for $1.26bn.
Last month, Marfrig’s UK arm Moy Park agreed to buy Northern Irish processor O’Kane Poultry, albeit for GBP13m.
Last autumn, Marfrig spent $706.2m buying Brazilian poultry business Seara Alimentos from agribusiness giant Cargill.
