Brothers Wesley and Joesley Batista have gained control of
JBS SA, the world’s largest meat-packing company, in a complex deal with the Bertin
family, both of them from Brazil.
JBS is the company that bought XL Foods Inc. of Brooks, Alta., when it was caught up in the largest recall of beef in Canadian history, and after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency shut down the plant to pressure the business into compliance with food-safety standards.
The Batistas, via their J&F Investimentos
holding company, have gained100 percent of FB Participações, another Brazilian
holding company that holds 43.97 per cent of the shares of JBS.
J&F already owned 45.2 per cent of JBS’s
shares.
The Bertin family has taken 24.75 per cent of
the shares of J&F Investimentos.
J&F holds far more than JBS shares. It is
also the owner of enough shares to control cellulose processor Eldorado,
agribusiness-focused Banco Original, dairy company Vigor and agribusiness news
channel Canal Rural.
Meanwhile, JBS is making a bid to expand its
empire yet again, this time bidding $55 a share for Hillshire Brands which was
spun out of Sara Lee Corp. in 2012.
It is making that bid via its control of
Pilgrim’s Pride, one of the largest poultry processors in the United States.
Tyson Foods, another major poultry processor in
the U.S. which also has pork and beef packing plants, is also in the bidding
for Hillshire.
That bidding has had a side effect of boosting
the share prices for Maple Leaf Foods Inc.
