Meat+Poultry - January 2017 - 10

BUSINESS NOTES

PILGRIM'S PRIDE TO ACQUIRE
GNP FROM THE MASCHHOFFS
Officials with Pilgrim's Pride Corp., a Greeley, Coloradobased business unit of São Paulo, Brazil-based JBS SA,
announced plans to acquire GNP Co., St. Cloud, Minnesota,
from its parent company, The Maschhoffs LLC. The all-cash,
$350 million transaction is expected to close in the first
quarter of 2017 pending regulatory approval and review.
The addition of GNP's Just Bare line of natural and organic
poultry products to Pilgrim's portfolio is complementary to
its strategy to grow its operations in new markets.
Bill Lovette, Pilgrim's CEO said, "GNP Co. boasts
outstanding state-of-the-art assets in geographic areas
where Pilgrim's is not currently present, providing
Pilgrim's the opportunity to expand our production and
customer bases, while maintaining our high standards for
quality service and great-tasting products."
According to a statement, Pilgrim's expects to realize
$20 million in annual operating synergies in production
and distribution and it plans on capturing an estimated
present value of approximately $28 million in tax savings
and a post-synergies
EBITDA multiple of 3.9.
GNP was acquired
by The Maschhoffs,
a family owned, pork
production company
based in Carlyle, Illinois,
in 2013. Josh Flint, PR and
communications manager
with The Maschhoffs,
told MEAT+POULTRY, the
acquisition demonstrates his company's continued focus
on the hog production industry.
"This represents the Maschhoff family's commitment
to the hog business," he said, "while setting GNP up for
long-term success as one of the world's premier chickenproducing companies."
Flint said the sale of GNP was not the result of it being
an underperforming business unit and is merely part of
The Maschhoffs' long-term strategy to solidify its role
serving pork-processing customers.

JBS TO FILE FOR IPO FOR INTERNATIONAL UNIT
JBS SA, the world's largest meatpacker based in São Paulo,
Brazil, is moving forward with plans for its consolidated
subsidiary, JBS Foods International (JBSFI) BV, to be
publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
The JBS SA board of directors approved the filing
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
for an initial public offering for JBSFI. JBS expects to
complete the IPO in the first half of 2017, but the timing,

MEAT+ POULTRY | 01.17 | www.meatpoultry.com

number of shares and price of the proposed offering have
not been determined.
The official seat and registered address for JBSFI is
in the Netherlands, and will house all JBS international
businesses and Seara. JBS SA will maintain control of its
Brazilian beef and leather processing businesses.
"The company believes that this revised structure
and proposed IPO reflects its global production platform,
product portfolio and broad international customer base,"
the company said in a statement.
Wesley Mendonça Batista will be the chairman, a
non-executive director, of JBSFI. The board of directors
of JBSFI will include nine members, the majority of whom
will be independent. Gilberto Tomazoni, who has held
senior executive positions at JBS for the past four years,
will be the CEO, while Russ Colaco will be CFO.
JBS SA executives were forced to seek alternative
growth strategies after Brazil's development bank, BNDES
and a minority shareholder in JBS, vetoed JBS's plans to

JBS SA executives were forced to seek
alternative growth strategies after
Brazil's development bank, BNDES and
a minority shareholder in JBS, vetoed
JBS's plans to reorganize its business.
reorganize its business. Under the proposed reorganization
JBS intended to contribute all of its assets except its
Brazilian beef business to a new holding company called
New Holdco, according to documents filed with the
SEC. New Holdco was to be a wholly-owned subsidiary
of JBS International, while JBS SA was designated as a
consolidated subsidiary of JBS Foods International and
still trading separately on the Brazilian stock exchange.

ALLEN HARIM UNVEILS HALAL CHICKEN LINE
Allen Harim, Seaford, Delaware, recently launched a brand
update of the company's Halal chicken product line. The
new name is Oasis All Natural Chicken which will replace
the current Al Mazra' ah Halal brand.
New packaging began appearing in local grocery
stores throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast United
States in November, the company said. The chicken is 100
percent vegetarian fed and free of hormones and steroids.
"Customers tell us they want more than Halal; they
want to know the chicken itself is of premium quality, safe
and all natural," Jack Coleman, senior director of sales
and marketing at Allen Harim, said in a statement. "We are
very pleased by the progress of our Halal line and believe
this new look and feel will please our customer base and
encourage even more growth."

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Meat+Poultry - January 2017

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